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Frontispiece

Carlo Antonio Buffagnotti

1690

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Baroque Baroque Allegory

Dominant colour

Frontispiece is a 1690 ink by Carlo Antonio Buffagnotti, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Carlo Antonio Buffagnotti
When & what style?: 1690 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This image shows two muscular men lifting a heavy basket filled with tangled ropes. Their faces are strained, and the basket looks almost too heavy to hold. Above them, a small child floats in the air, looking calm. The whole scene is drawn in black lines on light paper, with lots of cross-hatching for texture. The text at the top reads like a title in Italian, hinting this might be a fancy or symbolic image. The ropes and the effort suggest something hard to untangle—maybe a puzzle or a problem. If you like this style, check out etching to see how artists create detailed prints like this.