Lozenge-shaped Pendant and Two Trapezoid Motifs

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 designs for three elements of goldsmith's work with four fantastical creatures. In the center a lozenge-shaped pendant is presented. It is surrounded by a frame of organically-shaped openwork. Two bird-like hybrid creatures hold up a string to which the pendant seems to be attached. On the outer ends of the string, trapezoid motifs are attached. On the bottom of the print, on the two sides of the lozenge-shaped pendant, there are two larger hybrid creatures.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art