Design for a Wall Fountain 1550 - 1620

This anonymous 16th-century pen drawing, titled "Design for a Wall Fountain," is a detailed depiction of a fountain design. The central figure of a grotesque, or fantastical, creature with a tree atop its head, flanked by stylized seashells, creates a striking visual. It embodies the Mannerist era's fascination with the unusual and the ornate. The work's intricately rendered details and emphasis on the grotesque underscore the artist's skill and the period's aesthetic predilections. The drawing is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.