• Unknown Northern European Artist, active early 16th century (engraver (printmaker))

Design for a triumphal arch

1534

This print shows a heavily ornamented triumphal arch leading to vaulted corridor. Pairs of columns on either side of the portal have Corinthian capitals and fluted shafts sit atop non-canonical urn-like bases. The corridor that recedes into the distance has quadripartite vaults. The entablature features two male profile portrait rondels surrounded by laurel leaves. The frieze includes putti, arabesques, and grotesques. The attic story has two urns on either side of a central fronton with a Latin inscription evoking the mythical city of Troy and the date of execution, 1534. These elements are also covered in grotesques. At the top, an empty cartouche is flanked by two cornucopia and two additional vases/urns.

• pattern drawing
• theoretical drawing

Etching on laid paper

sheet: 23.8 x 17.1 cm (9 3/8 x 6 3/4 in.)

DR1990:0045

• line drawing

• perspective drawing

- Small-format etching. - This appears to be a later-state print, as there is some loss in the lines at lower left and in the areas around the profile portraits. The paper is cropped very tightly to the image.

Recto - printed in central cartouche: “QVONDAM / FVIT ING / ENS ILIO / N 1534” Verso - in graphite: 39 Verso - in graphite: 001886

• architecture

• triumphal arch
• archway
• architectural order