A winged figure of Fame standing facing left and sounding a trumpet 1570 - 1615

Cherubino Alberti made this engraving of a winged figure of Fame in the late 16th or early 17th century. It presents a classical figure with wings and a trumpet, standing on an ornate pedestal. The image is dedicated to someone named Cassiano Puteo. The figure’s nudity and wings associate it with classical, and specifically Greco-Roman, mythology and its allegorical figures. In the European tradition, Fame was often depicted as a winged woman blowing a trumpet to spread news, good or bad. Note the horn's decoration, which gives a sinister impression. This is no mere honorific emblem. Alberti was working in Rome at a time when the city was a center of artistic patronage and the Catholic Church a major source of commissions. Artists and their families depended on the recognition of wealthy elites. Prints like this one functioned as gifts but also as advertisements of an artist's skill. They played a crucial role in mediating between artist and patron. Studying the dedications on prints, as well as the biographies of artists and patrons, helps us understand the social and economic forces that shaped artistic production in early modern Europe.