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Design for a looking-glass frame

Maker

(artist)
1500-1599

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1550 - 1560

Medium

graphite, pen and ink (brown), wash (brown) on laid paper, on an old support

Dimensions

Height: 27.3 cm
Width: 18.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1984.AB.15

Mode of Acquisition

Anthony Blunt, Art Fund bequest & grant aid, 1984

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Only half of this elaborate frame is completed, as was common with design drawings as a time saving measure: the incomplete half could be traced in reverse. The pediment decorated with dolphins and used to provide a cartouche for an inscription alludes to classical architecture. The sumptuous forms of the frame may suggest that it was commissioned rather than executed for general production. The inclusion of the winged lions at the foot of the frame could indicate a Venetian connection.

Provenance

Professor Anthony Blunt (1907-1983); Blunt Bequest via the Art Fund 1984

Exhibition History

Special Display - Renaissance drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 29/01/2009-20/05/2009

Inscriptions

Inscription: a

Inscription: III IIII II / III III //

Inscription: A

Inscription: 50

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