The Triumph of Fame, plate three from the Triumphs of Petrarch
c. 1539
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate/sheet: 13.9 × 20.9 cm (5 1/2 × 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
77865
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Petrarch’s beloved poem about Fame lends itself well to being illustrated as a parade, and so Pencz could easily have adopted this imagery of ancient triumphal processions from recent works in print and paint by the late-15th-century artist Andrea Mantegna. Indeed, Pencz visited Mantua during his trip to Italy and may have seen some of Mantegna’s work there. Pencz’s curiously squat and diminutive elephants, stubby human figures, and oversize sculptural remnants all suggest a familiarity with Man...
About the Artist
Georg Pencz · 1490–1550
Comment on works: Religious; History; Portraits