Auricular Cartouche with Figures within a Strapwork Frame from Veederley Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten. Libro Primo

Cornelis Floris II|Johannes van Doetecum I|Lucas van Doetecum

1556 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

In his early career in Antwerp, the sculptor Cornelis Floris proved himself to be one of the most inventive designers of ornament. He took inspiration from Italian grotesque decorations and developed his very own vocabulary of, often exotic, creatures which inhabit a world of strapwork. Invertebrates and sea creatures play a prominent role in the designs, which illustrates the contemporary taste for the bizarre, but may also have be connected with Antwerp’s success in trade by sea. This particular type of grotesques became characteristic for Antwerp during the 1540s and 1550s, and is sometimes even specifically referred to as Floris grotesques, although several hands can be distinguished in extant designs.

Artist

Cornelis Floris II|Johannes van Doetecum I|Lucas van Doetecum

Date

1556

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Anne and Carl Stern Gift, 1959