Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs

Currently not on view

Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs,

ca. 1540–54

Andres de Melgar Vega, Spanish, ca. 1500 - after 1554
formerly attributed to Spanish
x1947-162
“Grotesque” describes an artistic style in which human figures, animals, flowers, architectural elements, and other subjects are combined in eccentric ways. The manner was inspired by decorations found in excavated Roman buildings and was especially popular in Renaissance Italy, France, and Spain. The columns of figures on this sheet are similar to those that Melgar painted in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and the inscription “33” in the upper right corner implies that it once belonged to a sequence of drawings— perhaps a sketchbook used by the artist to provide models for his decorations.

Information

Title
Grotesque Design, possibly for Santo Domingo de la Calzada: Two Vertical Columns of Figures and Floral Motifs
Dates

ca. 1540–54

Maker
Andres de Melgar Vega
Medium
Pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk and metalpoint
Dimensions
33.5 × 23.2 cm (13 3/16 × 9 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
x1947-162
Inscription
in brown ink, lower left: -8 in brown ink, upper right: 33
Culture
Spanish
Type
drawings, sketches
Materials
black chalk, laid paper, ink
Techniques
metalpoint (technique)
Subject
putti, grotesques, floral patterns, architectural elements, figures (representations)

Frank Jewett Mather, Jr., Princeton, NJ

formerly attributed to Spanish

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