Ornamental Panel 1514 - 1600

This 'Ornamental Panel' is an engraving, and, despite being by an anonymous artist, it embodies a set of aesthetic and social ideas that were circulating widely. This print probably comes from Europe and was made as part of a burgeoning print culture during the Renaissance. The image itself creates meaning through visual codes; the foliate forms draw on classical antiquity and its rediscovery and, indeed, its reinvention, by the artists of the Renaissance. One can imagine pattern books of such images circulating widely amongst artisans, and thus acting as a form of design education. They democratized access to classical forms. The rise of print culture went hand-in-hand with the rise of the museum, as well as the academy, as institutions that would define what was and what wasn't art. The art historian plays a crucial role in piecing together the social and institutional contexts within which art is made and consumed; museums, archives, and libraries can yield a great deal of information to help us understand this image and its moment in history.