Giovanni Pietro da Birago
Italian, active 1470-1513
Four Children with a Cat and a Dog, plate nine from Twelve Ornament Panels
INV-2342
Giovanni Pietro da Birago
Italian, active 1470-1513c. 1505–15
Four Children with a Cat and a Dog, plate nine from Twelve Ornament Panels
Giovanni Pietro da Birago Italian, active 1470-1513 →engravingprint
Date
c. 1505–15
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
53.7 × 8.6 cm (21 3/16 × 3 7/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.
This print exemplifies a type of ornamental design that enjoyed wide popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries. Featuring fanciful decorative vases, fragments of armor, symmetrical acanthus scrolls, fantastic creatures, and frolicking putti, it was inspired by painted and carved architectural decorations from Roman antiquity. A significant number of very early engravings depict ornamental designs, suggesting there was considerable demand for them among artists, craftsmen, scholars, and collectors interested in the classical past.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Triton Ridden by a Child, plate one of Twelve Ornament Panels
Giovanni Pietro da Birago Italian, active 1470-1513
Two Children Wearing Helmets, plate three of Twelve Ornament Panels
Giovanni Pietro da Birago Italian, active 1470-1513
Three Children Blowing Horns, plate eight of Twelve Ornament Panels
Giovanni Pietro da Birago Italian, active 1470-1513
