Candelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by Sphinxes

Candelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by Sphinxes

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two thirds of a candelabra grotesque, copied after a print published by Cornelis Bos around 1540. The design is characterized by a large vase on a pedestal forming the base of the candelabra. The vase is flanked by female sphinxes. On top of the vase a small pavillion-like structure is placed in which a woman stands holding an acanthus leaf. To the right a menora springs from a meandering acanthus rinceau.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by SphinxesCandelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by SphinxesCandelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by SphinxesCandelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by SphinxesCandelabra Grotesque with a Large Vase Flanked by Sphinxes

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.