Domus Aurea, cryptoporticus, grostteschi, details (recto) blank (verso) 1500 - 1560

Editor: This drawing, "Domus Aurea, cryptoporticus, grotteschi, details", from around 1500 to 1560, is an anonymous work – a drawing, ornament and print housed here at the Met. It’s incredible to me how something so precise and measured still feels playful. What details jump out to you? Curator: You know, it whispers secrets, doesn’t it? Like a mischievous cartographer mapping out the labyrinth of someone's imagination. These "grotteschi" – playful, often bizarre, decorations – they weren't just pretty baubles. Imagine stumbling through the dimly lit, rediscovered ruins of Nero's Golden House. Everywhere, these fantastical images danced on the walls. This drawing is a little ode to rediscovering a forgotten world! Notice how the linear style focuses our attention. Does it evoke something in you? Editor: Definitely a sense of hidden meanings. And I can see the Roman influence but something also…lighter. Was that intentional do you think? Curator: It’s the Renaissance reinterpreting antiquity! This is where artists found the freedom to mix and match styles. The Renaissance masters were reaching back to Rome while looking for their own voice. Editor: So, they were borrowing the vocabulary of the ancients to invent a new visual language. That’s beautiful. Thanks for pointing out what the drawing holds. Curator: Absolutely! Looking at these ancient ruins in a new Renaissance light. That is truly art.