Panel of Ornament with Acanthus and a Swan
circa 1530-1535
16th century
33.4 cm x 22 cm (13 1/8 in. x 8 11/16 in.)
Agostino dei Musi, called Veneziano
(Venice, circa 1490 - after 1536, Rome)
Primary
Object Type:
print
Artist Nationality:
Europe, Italian
Medium and Support:
Engraving
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Archer M. Huntington Museum Fund, by exchange, 1999
Accession Number:
1999.43
This is one of Agostino Veneziano’s greatest achievements and probably the single finest High Renaissance print of ornament. It offers a lyrical interpretation of the inhabited acanthus that is carved on the exterior of the Ara Pacis, the monumental altar of imperial peace built for Augustus in 13-9 B.C. and rediscovered in the early 16th century. This impression is one of the earliest and perhaps the most subtle in its exceptional clarity and silvery tonality.