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Ornament With Flower and Eight Wild Folk

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

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

Date:

1490/1500

Artist:

Israhel van Meckenem the Younger
German, c. 1440/45-1503

About this artwork

Ornament prints with mischievous tiny figures were in such demand in late-15th- and early-16th-century Europe that engravers like Israhel van Meckenem frequently borrowed imagery and entire compositions from other artists. The flower stalk that the naked wild men and women scale comes from a print by an earlier artist, the Master E. S. This print bears an inscription that translates to “The noble bees draw honey from the beautiful flower; from this one however, the frivolous vermin extract a stronger potion.” The ripe blossom thus symbolizes sexual consummation, and the print simultaneously tempts and warns the viewer about “the birds and bees.”

Status

On View, Gallery 202

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Israhel van Meckenem, the younger

Title

Ornament With Flower and Eight Wild Folk

Place

Germany (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.

1465–1503

Medium

Engraving in black on cream laid paper

Dimensions

20.5 × 13.6 cm (8 1/8 × 5 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

Reference Number

1956.855

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/3818/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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