Child Seated Near a Portico
Artist
Jean de Gourmont
(French, 1506 - 1551)
Datemid-16th century
MediumEngraving on paper
DimensionsOverall: 5 1/2 inches (13.97 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number34-198
On View
Not on viewCollections
Exhibition HistoryArchitecture and Decorative Arts in Prints from the Permanent Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 13-April 10, 1983, no. 12, as Child Seated Near a Portico, undated (16th century).
This print shows a typically Renaissance fascination with perspective, and is intended to display the artist's skill in architectural draftsmanship. The colonnade is classical in style, but the columns are too squat to be faithful to true classical proportions, and their bases too broad. This shows the artist's delight in breaking the rules and being personally inventive. The cherub has been included to give a sense of scale to the buildings but also provides a reference to myth and fantasy.
Architecture and Decorative Arts in Prints from the Permanent Collection, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1983), p. 3, as Child Seated Near a Portico, undated (16th century).
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