Octagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by Ignudi

Octagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by Ignudi

Giovanni Battista Costantini

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Print from a series of six with goldsmith's designs in blackwork. This print shows three designs for goldsmith's work, placed in a landscape two ignudi. In the center an octagonal design for the decoration of a case or pendant is presented. It is held up upright by two ignudi, who each hold another motif in their other hand. These motifs are shaped like ornamental coats of arms and are decorated with Schweifwerk.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Octagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by IgnudiOctagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by IgnudiOctagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by IgnudiOctagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by IgnudiOctagonal Case and Two Other Motifs Held by Ignudi

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.