Opera Nova Universali intitulata Corona di racammi, page 31 (verso)
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Overall: 8 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (22.5 x 17.5 cm)
Classification
Books|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1932
Accession Number
32.54.1(62)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This woodcut comes from Giovanni Andrea Vavassore’s 1530 pattern bookOpera Nova Universali intitul Corona di racammi*, a popular Renaissance guide to embroidery designs. Printed in Venice, the volume offered artisans and needleworkers accessible models for decorating textiles with floral and foliate motifs. On page 31 verso, delicate leaf patterns demonstrate the elegant, repeating ornament typical of the period, intended to be transferred or adapted for clothing, linens, and furnishings. Vavassore, a printer and woodcut artist active in the early sixteenth century, specialized in such practi...
About the Artist
Giovanni Andrea Vavassore · 1530–1573
**Giovanni Andrea Vavassore (c. 1490s–1572)** Giovanni Andrea Vavassore, also known as Zoan Andrea or Guadagnino, hailed from Telgate near Bergamo in the Venetian terraferma and established himself in Venice by the early 16th century as a skilled wood engraver. His early life remains sparsely documented, with no records of formal training or mentors, though his initial output as a xylographer rev...