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First Knot

Italian 15th Century

1495

ink

paper

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Architectural

Dominant colour

First Knot is a 1495 ink by Italian 15th Century, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Italian 15th Century
When & what style?: 1495 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This image shows a strange, geometric pattern that looks like a tangled knot. The lines are all sharp and black, filling a round shape. Around the edges, there are five small pieces cut from the same sheet—each one has a simple cross shape. The words "Academia Leonardi Vin" sit in the middle, like a stamp. The whole thing feels like a puzzle or a map of some sort, but it’s not clear what it’s supposed to show. If you like this, check out engraving to see how artists made prints like this.

About the artist

Artist

Italian 15th Century

This anonymous Italian engraver from the 1490s carved images that could be peeled apart like paper dolls—each knot in the "First Knot" print was cut from a single sheet so you could lift the loops right off the page.

See the richer artist page