A Grotto 1540 - 1560

drawing, print

drawing

toned paper

light pencil work

pen drawing

mechanical pen drawing

print

pen sketch

pencil sketch

old engraving style

personal sketchbook

pen-ink sketch

arch

pen work

building

This is a detailed etching by Italian artist Antonio Fantuzzi, titled "A Grotto" and made sometime between 1540 and 1560. The artwork depicts an architectural fantasy, with elaborate, twisting rockwork flanking a series of arches that lead the viewer's eye through the picture plane. The image is highly detailed and uses cross-hatching to create the illusion of depth and texture, typical of the Mannerist style popular at the time. This piece is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.