Design for a Frontispiece 1720

Bernard Picart's "Design for a Frontispiece," created in 1720, depicts a central female figure surrounded by figures representing various aspects of knowledge. The seated figure holds a book and is being crowned with laurels, while two cherubs at her feet, hold books, signifying the importance of education. The composition's emphasis on learning is further enhanced by several books scattered on the ground, and a man holding a wreath of laurel branches behind the woman. The intricate detail and dramatic composition of this etching highlights the Baroque period's embrace of artistic expression and the value of scholarship.