Roundel with a Moresque Motif
Circle of Master F Italian
Not on view
This roundel with a moresque motif in white on a dark, cross-hatched ground is a very rare, undocumented sixteenth-century print. Its moresque design ties it in with a group of engravings produced in Venice in the 1520s and 1530s, which were previously all attributed to an artist known as the Master f. Many of these prints relate to objects in precious metals, and were likely produced by artists active as gold- and silversmiths. Based on its cross-hatched background, this print might date from slightly later in the century, indicating an ongoing tradition of moresque design in Italy. Prints belonging to this group were part of some of the earliest print collections in Europe, but are extremely rare today.
