Candelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a Lobster

Candelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a Lobster

Anonymous, Italian, 16th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra grotesque, copied after a print published by Cornelis Bos around 1540. The design is characterized by a pedestal with stairs on the two sides, and an arch in the middle. On top of the pedestal a candelabra has been placed which is characterized by a lobster in its center. Flanking the candelabra are two fantastical, weasel-like creature with long slender ears. On the verso part of a frame with a dark outer rim and a delicate inner line is visible.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a LobsterCandelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a LobsterCandelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a LobsterCandelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a LobsterCandelabra Grotesque on a Pedestal with Fantastical Creatures and a Lobster

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.