About this artwork
Agostino Carracci’s fanciful ostrich feather headdress engraving could be cut out and mounted on a stiff backing, then secured to a woman’s festive coiffure. The central oval cameo of the virgin huntress Diana offers the wearer one identity; three other ovals could replace it or the smaller scene of a voyeuristic satyr observing bathing nymphs. These alternate cameos include the wiser goddess Minerva, the three Graces dancing, and Minerva and Poseidon. The relatively damaged and scuffed surface of the engraving plate reinforces the idea that the print was meant to be cut out and assembled, and so keeping the margins pristine was unimportant.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Agostino Carracci
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Title
- A Headpiece in the Form of a Fan
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Place
- Italy (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1584–1600
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Medium
- Engraving on ivory laid paper
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Dimensions
- Image/sheet, cut within platemark: 37 × 24.8 cm (14 5/8 × 9 13/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection
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Reference Number
- 1942.250
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/44744/manifest.json