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Object Timeline

1944

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Print, Strapwork Grotesque with Mythological Scene

This is a Print. It was engraved by Pieter van der Heyden and after Jacob Floris the Elder. It is dated 1566 and we acquired it in 1944. Its medium is engraving on laid paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Van der Heyden collaborated with influential Antwerp publisher Cock to reproduce the work of Flemish artists such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch for a rapidly expanding print market. Designs like these for decorative metalwork constituted a smaller part of their business, but they feature similar allegorical idioms and fantastic creatures. Grinning men and mythic beasts cavort within stylized strapwork frames. Ornamental strapwork, inspired by decorative bands of leather, was a common grotesque motif throughout Europe, but the forceful clarity of van der Heyden’s architectonic designs is distinctly Flemish.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John I. Kane.

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Its dimensions are

13.5 × 10.3 cm (5 5/16 × 4 1/16 in.)

Cite this object as

Print, Strapwork Grotesque with Mythological Scene; Engraved by Pieter van der Heyden; After Jacob Floris the Elder (Flemish, 1524 - 1581); Netherlands; engraving on laid paper; 13.5 × 10.3 cm (5 5/16 × 4 1/16 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Mrs. John I. Kane; 1944-83-7-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Fragile Beasts.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18572389/ |title=Print, Strapwork Grotesque with Mythological Scene |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>