Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 62, The Foyle Foundation Gallery

Veelderleij Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten ghemaeckt tot dienste van alle die de Conste beminne ende ghebruiken

Print
1556 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Cornelis Floris was born in Antwerp but spent some time in Rome in the late 1530s when he would have been exposed to examples of Ancient Roman and Renaissance grotesque decoration. The grotesque style often featured fanciful creatures -part human, part plant. The prints of Cornelis Floris have been described as having a sinister quality about them. In this example the combination of the auricular (ear-like) quality of the framework and the presence of individual figures apparently held prisoner by it, does give an unsettling effect.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleVeelderleij Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten ghemaeckt tot dienste van alle die de Conste beminne ende ghebruiken (series title)
Materials and techniques
Etching on laid paper
Brief description
Etching by Cornelis Floris II, published by Hieronymus Cock. Antwerp, 1556.
Physical description
Etching
Dimensions
  • Size of plate height: 30.7cm
  • Size of plate width: 20.9cm
  • Size of sheet height: 32.4cm
  • Size of sheet width: 22.6cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
F (Other plates from the same set in the V&A are lettered A to I and K to M.)
Subjects depicted
Summary
Cornelis Floris was born in Antwerp but spent some time in Rome in the late 1530s when he would have been exposed to examples of Ancient Roman and Renaissance grotesque decoration. The grotesque style often featured fanciful creatures -part human, part plant. The prints of Cornelis Floris have been described as having a sinister quality about them. In this example the combination of the auricular (ear-like) quality of the framework and the presence of individual figures apparently held prisoner by it, does give an unsettling effect.
Bibliographic references
  • D. Guimard "Les maitres ornemanistes" Paris, 1880-81, p.477 no.6
  • Berlin Staatliche Museen: Katalog der Ornamentstichsammlung, Berlin and Leipzig, 1936-39 no.211.1
  • Peter Ward Jackson, Some Main Streams and Tributaries in European Ornament from 1500 to 1750, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1969, 38.
Collection
Accession number
29170:5A

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Record createdDecember 2, 2005
Record URL
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