Rolwerk waarin bovenaan een man met een masker op gevangen staat 1554

This is an engraving, made at an unknown date by an anonymous artist. The print, held here at the Rijksmuseum, presents a complex ornamental design. Prints such as these circulated widely in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe. They were used as sources and inspiration for craftsmen and artists in various media. This print may have been used to inspire the design of furniture, metalwork, or other decorative arts. Note the grotesque figures and masks. These were popular motifs at the time, reflecting a broader interest in classical antiquity and the rediscovery of ancient Roman art. Consider also the prominence of artifice. The figure in the mask is ‘imprisoned’ by it, perhaps commenting on the constraints of social roles and the performance of identity. To better understand this print and others like it, researchers might consult inventories of print collections, treatises on ornament, and studies of the social and economic networks of artists and craftsmen.