Disegni Varii di Polifilo Zancarli
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 9 5/16 x 5 11/16 in. (23.6 x 14.4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.149.4a(2)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This etching, *Disegni Varii di Polifilo Zancarli*, captures the inventive spirit of early seventeenth-century ornament design. Created before 1628 by Polifilo Giancarli, possibly in collaboration with Odoardo Fialetti and Tasio Giancarli, the print showcases a lively assortment of grotesques—fantastical hybrids of mythical creatures, playful putti, and curling acanthus leaves. Rendered with the fine, precise lines characteristic of etching, these motifs reflect the period’s fascination with rediscovered ancient Roman decorative schemes, reimagined for contemporary use. Such ornamental prints...
About the Artist
Polifilo Giancarli|Odoardo Fialetti|Tasio Giancarli (Italian|Italian) · 1600 |1573 –1625 |1638
active in Venice ca. 1600–1625|Italian, Bologna 1573–1637/38 Venice