For the counterpart of the artistic style of de Bry one must look to the
Low Countries and particularly to the work of the engraver Hans Collaert
(1540-1622), of Antwerp, who developed remarkable fertility in the
production of patterns for jewellery. Collaert's designs require
special attention, because of the tendency, elaborated largely by him
and other engravers of the school of Antwerp, towards exuberant
cartouche ornaments with a mixture of extravagant and loosely arranged
strap-work, and stud -or boss-work. This style, full of grotesques and
arabesques, pervaded the work of every craftsman of the day, and dealt
a final blow to any further development of pure Renaissance ornament.
Collaert's chief series of pendants, eleven in number, published in 1581
under the title _Monilium bullarum inauriumque artificiosissimæ icones_,
are probably the best known of all designs for jewellery of this
epoch. One of these engravings, in particular, has been several times
reproduced. It is a large pendant hung from a cartouche and surmounted
by a figure of Orpheus with a lyre, with two seated female figures. The
rest of the jewel is made up of scroll ornaments and bracket-shaped
terminal figures, and is hung with three drop pearls. This pendant is
of peculiar interest in connection with its bearing on what has already
been said with regard to the attributions given to Cinquecento
jewellery. Two striking instances of misapplied attributions of this
kind may be quoted. In one[127] work the engraving in question is
described as: "Pendant par Benvenuto Cellini (Musée de Florence)"; and
in another[128] as: "Gehänge in der Bibliothèque nationale zu Paris
nach seinem [Cellini's] Model gearbeitet!"
[127] Jannettaz, _Diamant et pierres précieuses_, p. 423.
[128] Bucher, _Geschichte der technischen Künste_, II, p. 307.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account