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Masked man wearing a feminine mask at the back of his head

Print
1545-1549 (engraved)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This print belongs to a series of twelve engravings; six of which show two male busts each, and the other six, female busts. It is common to find those prints cut in two and the set described as a series of twenty four prints. The original drawings are kept in Paris, in the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts. The drawings and the prints used to be unanimously attributed to René Boyvin and Robert-Dumesnil even thought the prints were after Rosso Fiorentino. They are now attributed to Pierre Milan. The drawings have been attributed to Léonard Thiry, possibly using a model given by Rosso, and adapted for the engraving.

This set is remarkable for Thiry’s success; it has been reproduced and copied many times. E. A. Carroll suggested that the masks were maybe not models for costumes as most people assumed but that they could be projects for 'pictures of masks out of colored stones, probably to decorate the walls or pavement of a room [...] at [the Palace of] Fontainebleau'.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Masked man wearing a feminine mask at the back of his head (generic title)
  • Set of 24 male and female grotesque masks (series title)
Materials and techniques
Engraving on paper
Brief description
Pierre Milan after Léonard Thiry. Plate from a series of twelve engravings showing a set of twenty-four male and female grotesque masks. France, 1545-1549.
Physical description
Print. Male bust in profile to the left: man wearing a bearded mask with a lion head on his forehead and a feminine mask at the back on the head. Pearls and flowers in the hair. One of a series of twelve engravings showing a set of twenty-four male and female grotesque masks; ca. 1545-ca.1549. Attributed to Pierre Milan. Formerly attributed to René Boyvin.
Dimensions
  • Cut to height: 15.5cm
  • Cut to width: 11.0cm
Style
Historical context
This print belongs to a series of twelve engravings; six of which show two male busts each, and the other six, female busts. It is common to find those prints cut in two and the set described as a series of twenty four prints. The original drawings are kept in Paris, in the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts (Mas. 1296, Rec. 19). The drawings and the prints used to be unanimously attributed to René Boyvin and Robert-Dumesnil even thought the prints were after Rosso Fiorentino.

But Yves Metman, using a 16th century document, proposed to give the prints to Pierre Milan and to set a terminus ante quem in 1559 ('Un graveur inconnu de l'Ecole de Fontainebleau: Pierre Milan', in Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, Notes et documents, I, 1941, pp. 202-214.).

Emmanuelle Brugerolles attributed the drawings to Léonard Thiry (Le dessin en France au XVIe siècle: dessins et miniatures des collections de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, 1994, p. 108). She suggests that Thiry could have used a model given by Rosso, and adapted it for the engraving.

This set is remarkable for his success; it has been reproduced and copied many times. E. A. Carroll suggested that those masks were maybe not models for costumes as most people assumed but that they could be projects for 'pictures of masks out of colored stones, probably to decorate the walls or pavement of a room [...] at Fontainebleau' (Rosso Fiorentino. Drawings, Prints, and Decorative Arts, Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1987, p. 215, footnote no. 3).
Production
Attributed to Pierre Milan. Formerly attributed to René Boyvin.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
This print belongs to a series of twelve engravings; six of which show two male busts each, and the other six, female busts. It is common to find those prints cut in two and the set described as a series of twenty four prints. The original drawings are kept in Paris, in the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts. The drawings and the prints used to be unanimously attributed to René Boyvin and Robert-Dumesnil even thought the prints were after Rosso Fiorentino. They are now attributed to Pierre Milan. The drawings have been attributed to Léonard Thiry, possibly using a model given by Rosso, and adapted for the engraving.

This set is remarkable for Thiry’s success; it has been reproduced and copied many times. E. A. Carroll suggested that the masks were maybe not models for costumes as most people assumed but that they could be projects for 'pictures of masks out of colored stones, probably to decorate the walls or pavement of a room [...] at [the Palace of] Fontainebleau'.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Robert-Dumesnil, A. P. F. Le peintre-graveur français, ou Catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'école française. Ouvrage faisant suite au Peintre-graveur de M. Bartsch. Par A.-P.-F. Robert-Dumesnil. Paris: G. Warée, 1835-71. Vol. VIII, no. 79.
  • Metman, Yves. Un graveur inconnu de l'Ecole de Fontainebleau: Pierre Milan. In: Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, Notes et documents, I. 1941. pp. 202-214.
  • Carroll, E. A. Rosso Fiorentino. Drawings, Prints, and Decorative Arts. 1987. p.215, footnote no. 3.
  • Brugerolles. Le dessin en France au XVIe siecle: dessins et miniatures des collections de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. 1994. p. 108.
Collection
Accession number
29340:6

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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