Four Children Playing, plate seven of Twelve Ornament Panels
c. 1505–15
Medium
Engraving in black on grayish ivory laid paper
Dimensions
54.7 × 8.3 cm (21 9/16 × 3 5/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
23445
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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 collector...