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Two Children Wearing Helmets, plate three of Twelve Ornament Panels

A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

c. 1505–20

Artist:

Giovanni Pietro da Birago
Italian, active 1470-1513

About this artwork

Two artists in the circle of Andrea Mantegna produced a set of twelve ornamental columns (1937.100–03; 1937.105–06) which could be combined with other prints as framing devices. In true Renaissance form, the artists infused every inch of the image with a theatrical blend of mythology and antique ornament. Cupids gleefully urinate into one another’s vases in one of Giovanni Antonio’s columns, while half-armors and the spoils of war depicted throughout reinforce the Roman love of ancient history. The masked and hybrid creatures likely derive from grotteschi designs in Emperor Nero’s sunken Domus Aurea in Rome, which had been rediscovered and excavated in the decades before these prints were made.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Giovan Pietro Birago

Title

Two Children Wearing Helmets, plate three of Twelve Ornament Panels

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1500–1520

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 52.8 × 8.8 cm (20 13/16 × 3 1/2 in.); Sheet: 53.6 × 11.4 cm (21 1/8 × 4 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Potter Palmer, II

Reference Number

1937.105

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/23442/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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