Research Catalog

Title

Festivities and spectacles [graphic].

Publication

[16--? or later]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

5 prints : etching, engraving?, hand-colored; 24 x 36 cm. or smaller, plate mark 19 x 28 cm. or smaller.

Summary

Plates, possibly from an unidentified festival book or illustrated history, chiefly depicting various sorts of festivities or performances. All are lavishly costumed; some include elaborate pageant cars or scenic elements. At top center, each print bears an Arabic number, preceded by the letter "N" on the first three items. At top right is the letter "T" followed by Roman numerals. Each print is described separately below.

Subjects

• Etchings
• Pageants > Europe
• Cupid (Roman deity)
• Horse ballet
• Torch dances

Genre/Form

Etchings.

Note

• At the lower left of each print is the following string of letters and Roman numerals: V.ü.d.K.IIAb.IIITh.
• At the lower right of each print except N. 316, T. XLVIII are the words: M. [Moyen?] âge Tom III.
• Title devised by cataloger.

Source (note)

• Lincoln Kirstein.

Contents

• N. 316, T. XLVIII: Interior scene, with four gigantic heads at right. Three are light-skinned, adorned with green leaves; the fourth is dark-skinned, wearing a fabric headband. The two heads closest to the front appear to be disgorging normal-sized human figures. At center are of five men in western European costume. Behind them, a dark-skinned figure appears to flee from a turbaned man with raised sword; a man watches with both arms upraised. At left is a group of musicians with various instruments, among them a dark-skinned man playing a tambourine and a hunchback playing a sort of trombone.
• N. 318, T. L.: Horse ballet? featuring a contest or battle on horseback around two columns surmounted by statues. The four contending groups represent the four elements of fire, air, earth, and water. In addition to their different costumes and weapons, each group has a scenic element replete with appropriate symbols, where the leaders are seated to urge on their followers.
• N. 319, T. LI: Interior of a shop? displaying helmets surmounted by fantastical devices, which are examined by a group of men and women.
• 379, T. LXXII: Pageant car? representing water, with fish swimming amid the waves. Upon it ride four men in leaf mail, two of them playing musical instruments. Behind them are a woman in a ruff, obviously an important personage, and a music-making angel. At the center of the car are two swans beneath a scaffold from which Cupid, armed with bow and arrows, dangles by one foot. Two angels with swords follow on foot. Between them is a person or object covered in rose-colored fabric, bearing a sign lettered "Dormiens anima cupidini."
• 382, T. LXXV: Interior scene with torch dance. The dancers are all male, wearing what appear to be fencers' masks. Six men are positioned in a semicircle in the foreground, each bearing a torch in either hand. Behind them is a cluster of men, holding their torches before them in crossed positions.

Call Number

*MGZFD Fes 1-5

OCLC

810925788

Title

Festivities and spectacles [graphic].

Imprint

[16--? or later]

Local Note

For an uncolored print with the same notations at bottom, see: *MGZFX Equ 1.

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

This item may be offsite for digitization. For additional information please contact dance@nypl.org.

Source

Gift; Lincoln Kirstein.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Local Subject

Torch dances.

Added Author

Kirstein, Lincoln, 1907-1996. Donor

Research Call Number

*MGZFD Fes 1-5