Design for an Urn with Satyrs for Handles. 1600 - 1700

This is a pen and brown ink drawing, depicting a design for an urn with satyrs for handles, made by an anonymous artist. The image exemplifies the period's fascination with classical forms and ornament. We can see the urn as a kind of canvas, adorned with intricate details and mythological figures. In this sense, it demonstrates the values of the cultural elite in the era it was made. The satyrs, for example, are a direct reference to classical antiquity and reflect the interests of those who would have been educated in classical literature. The inscription at the base of the urn, "EQUITIS BERNINI," raises interesting questions about the patronage and social context of this drawing. Was it a design commissioned by a member of the Bernini family? Was this proposed urn intended for domestic use, or might it have been made for public display? These are the kinds of questions that art historians ask, using archives and collections of objects like this to piece together an understanding of art as something always embedded in social and institutional life.