Currently not on view
The Practice of the Visual Arts,
1578
Cornelis Cort, 1533–1578; born Hoorn, The Netherlands; died Rome, Italy
after Jan van der Straet, Flemish, 1523–1605
after Jan van der Straet, Flemish, 1523–1605
x1987-36
By the second half of the sixteenth century, artists conducted anatomical studies in more institutional settings, such as the one evoked in Cornelis Cort’s allegorical engraving, The Practice of the Visual Arts. Teaching academies, such as the Accademia del Disegno in Florence and the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, provided the facilities necessary for the close observation and study of dissected bodies. As part of their training, young artists studied the human figure progressively, beginning with the skeleton and then moving on to other parts of the body, such as the muscles.
Information
Title
The Practice of the Visual Arts
Dates
1578
Maker
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
plate (sheet trimmed inside plate): 43.8 × 29.4 cm (17 1/4 × 11 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund
Object Number
x1987-36
Place Made
Europe, Italy, Rome
Inscription
Inscribed in plate on left stool, lower center: Tyrones pi / cture
Signed in plate on right stool, lower center: Cornelius Cort fecit / 1578
Inscribed in plate along bottom edge: Ill.mo et Ex.mo Dno Iacobo Boncompagno Arcis Praefecto, ingeniorum ac industriae fautori, Artiu nobiliu. praxim, a Io Stradesi Belga artificiose expressa, Laureti Vaccarius D.D. Romae Anno 1578
Marks/Labels/Seals
Watermark: circle with undecipered motif, possibly a pilgrim
Reference Numbers
Hollstein 218; New Hollstein 210 (Cort), 399 (Stradanus); Baroni Vannucci 772
Type
Materials
Techniques
-
F.W.H. Hollstein, “Cornelisz.-Dou,” Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700, (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1951).
, no. 336 - "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1987", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 47, no. 1 (1988): p. 30-54., p. 44
- Alessandra Varoni Vannucci, Jan Van der Straet detto Giovanni Stradano: flandrus pictor et inventor, (Milano: Jandi Sapi, 1997)., no. 54, p. 693
- Manfred Sellink and Huigen Leeflang, ed., "Cornelis Cort," New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, 1450-1700 (Rotterdam : Sound & Vision Publishers, in co-operation with the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2000)., no. 210
- Marjolein Leesberg, "Hendrick Goltzius," New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, 1450-1700 (Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, in co-operation with the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2012).