print;
playing-card
- Museum number
- 1845,0825.327
- Description
-
Chronico, the Genius of Time; a winged youth standing and holding in his left hand a small dragon biting its tail; a number of small-scale trees behind; inscribed at lower left: 'B', at lower centre: 'CHRONICO XXXII' and at lower right: '3Z'; encircled by a frame of diamonds. c.1470-80
Engraving
- Production date
- 1470-1480 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 172 millimetres
-
Width: 92 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The print belongs to the second version (called 'S series') of a group of fifty engravings traditionally known as the 'Tarocchi Cards of Mantegna' (for this set see the entry for Hind E.I.1a: P&D 1895-9-15-1). It is one of ten images in the fourth group of the set marked with the letter "B" and illustrates the 'Cosmic Principles' (or 'Genii and Virtues'). The first three images of this group, the so-called 'Genii', do not have artistic precedents and appear to be the invention of the author of the 'Tarocchi' series. They are followed by the seven Virtues who bear recognizable attributes and are traditionally divided into a group of four (the Cardinal Virtues of Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, and Justice) and another of three (the Theological Virtues of Charity, Hope, and Faith).
The image is a reverse adaptation of the 'E series' Chronico (for a comparison see Hind E.I.32a and Mark J. Zucker, 'The Illustrated Bartsch, Commentary', vol. 24, part 3, 2000, pp. 43-44, no. 032a).
Other impressions of the print are in Bassano (Museo Civico); Chatsworth (Collection of the Duke of Devonshire); Dresden (Kupferstichkabinett, Zwinger); Vienna; Paris; and in the Rothschild collection (Louvre, Paris).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1845
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1845,0825.327
