Trofee met guirlande 1737 - 1792

Benigno Bossi created this print, "Trofee met guirlande," but we don't know exactly when. Likely made for circulation among artists, this print presents a jumble of classical motifs that would have been instantly recognizable in the eighteenth century. Bossi was working in a period when a renewed interest in the art of antiquity was spreading throughout Europe. The 'trophy' is composed of iconographic elements such as garlands and ribbons, a portrait of a man and a young boy, weapons, and a bird, and the ensemble would have been immediately recognizable as classical in inspiration. It circulated in a cultural context that included institutions like academies of art and design, which taught classical principles and styles, as well as museums, which collected and displayed classical art. Bossi's image speaks to the pervasiveness of classicism and its impact on eighteenth-century visual culture. To understand this print more fully, we might consult catalogues of prints or documents from art academies of the period. Such sources reveal the power of classical imagery and the institutions that shaped the era.