Ornamental Panel (ca. 1514–36, Met-Objekt 5826)
Original title: Ornamental Panel
kurzbeschreibung
A symmetrically ordered ornamental panel engraved by Agostino Veneziano (Agostino dei Musi) between about 1514 and 36. A central figure is surrounded by angels, mythological beings and floral scrollwork. The sheet is regarded as a typical example of Renaissance printmaking with ornamental decoration.
Description
A human figure sits at the middle of the field; angels and fabulous creatures gather around it in shifting poses — standing upright, reclining, hanging down. Flowers, fruit and stylised tendrils divide the panel into an upper and a lower zone. The whole reads like a relief, worked in the monochrome greys usual for Renaissance engravings.
Context
Agostino Veneziano, also known as Agostino dei Musi, was one of the Italian copperplate engravers of the Renaissance and worked in Marcantonio Raimondi's workshop. He became known for reproductive prints after Raphael and other masters, and also for his own ornamental designs. The period 1514–36 falls within his active years between Rome and Venice. Panels of this kind often served craftsmen as models, for goldsmiths or for inlay work, for instance.
Impact
The eye is drawn straight to the middle, carried by the evenness of the arrangement and the cleanly set lines. Calm and balance define the impression. The grey tonality and the relief-like structure give the sheet a refined graphic presence, characteristic of Renaissance printmaking.
Technique
In engraving, lines are cut into a copper plate and then filled with printing ink. Deeper, more closely spaced lines produce the shadows, shallower ones bring out the lights. Gradations of grey and a precise handling of line belong to the printmaking of the sixteenth century.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)