Plate 9: Vase or Ewer with a Serpent Handle and Two Putti holding up a Garland, from "Antique Vases" (Vasa a Polydoro Caravagino)
Original title: Plate 9: Vase or Ewer with a Serpent Handle and Two Putti holding up a Garland, from "Antique Vases" (Vasa a Polydoro Caravagino)
kurzbeschreibung
Aegidius Sadeler II etched an antique vase with a serpent handle in 1605; it is held by two putti carrying a garland. The sheet belongs to the series "Antique Vases" after designs by Polidoro da Caravaggio and survives in the second of three states (Bartsch).
Description
A tall cylindrical body tapers toward its foot. A snake coils spirally around the wall as a handle. Two putti and further figures grip sections of the garland in varying poses. Flowers and tendrils cover the vase as dense ornament. Along the bottom runs a Latin inscription band with "Polydorus de Caravaggio", "Marco Sadeler excudit" and "Roma".
Context
Sadeler engraved the "Antique Vases" series after drawings by the Renaissance painter Polidoro da Caravaggio. The Fleming worked in Prague and Rome, among other places. Such prints served craftsmen as models and collectors of antique forms as reference material. The publisher was his relative Marco Sadeler, who issued the sheets in Rome.
Impact
Precise lines and graded shading give the vase physical presence. The symmetrical layout and the ornamentally entwined forms produce a calm, balanced impression. Because the sheet stays monochrome, ornament and figures stand out clearly.
Technique
Etching and engraving were combined here, allowing fine lines and exact hatching of the kind usual for reproducing antique objects. The paper measures 23.7 × 16.3 cm, and the motif is set within a rectangle.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)