Frieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at Center

Frieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at Center

Theodor de Bry

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Horizontal panel with a central frieze and ascending and descending floral motifs. At center of frieze, a horned and bearded mask layered on top of strapwork, with the torso behind. The figure hold tendrils that terminate in cornucopias. At either side, female masks with swag beneath canopies. From a series of four prints.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Frieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at CenterFrieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at CenterFrieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at CenterFrieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at CenterFrieze with Grotesques and a Horned and Bearded Figure Between Strapwork at Center

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.