Design for the capital and base of a column

People:

Hans Sebald Beham (engraver (printmaker))

Title:

Design for the capital and base of a column

Date:

1543

Description:

- This engraving depicts a design for an order of architecture showing the capital and the base. Although the inscriptions refer to "DORICA[E]", this is not one of the traditional orders of architecture: the acanthus leaves on the capital suggest a Corinthian model while other details, such as the dolphin heads, suggest a more personal interpretation.
- This print is one of a set of four prints of capitals and bases which were engraved by Hans Sebald Beham. Patricia Condon suggests that these prints were made for a general audience rather than for architects ('Ornament and Architecture', 29). Three of the prints in the CCA collection are from the collection of the Ducs d'Arenburg, while the provenance of this print is unknown.

Form:
works of art

Quantity / Object type:
1 print(s)

Stage and Purpose:

pattern drawing
theoretical drawing
detail drawing

Technique and media:

Engraving

Dimensions:

plate mark: 7.6 x 5.0 cm sheet: 7.9 x 5.3 cm

Reference number:

DR1987:0342

Drawing Type:

line drawing

Method of Projection:

pictorial drawing

Physical characteristics and technical requirements:

- The sheet has been trimmed unevenly just outside the plate mark. There is a pinhole at the u.r. and a repair to the c.

Inscription:

signed, dated, and inscribed - by the engraver ? in the plate above the image, u.l. to u.r.: "1543 VITRVVIVS HSB" [monogram]"; to the l. of the image, l.l. to u.l.: "QVODLIBET HORVM CAPITVM PONI POTEST / AD CORPVS COLVMNÆ DORICAE" [written sideways]; and to the r. of the image, u.r. to u.l.: "DISSE HAVBTER MAG EINIETLICHES GESECZ WERDEN AVF DEN / LEIB DER SEVLN DORICA" [written sideways] inscribed - by an unknown hand, in graphite, verso, c.: "P257" inscribed - by an unknown hand, in graphite, verso, b.: "13174 [underlined] / F [...] M [...] es" [illeg.]

Subject:

architecture

Subject Descriptive Terms:

capital
base
architectural orders

Credit line:
Collection Centre Canadien d'Architecture/
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal

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