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‘Altered and Adorned’: Art Institute of Chicago shows the use of Renaissance prints in daily life

The Nativity, in coffer, c. 1490.

The Master of the Very Small Hours of Anne of Brittany
(Master of the Unicorn Hunt)
The Nativity, in coffer, c. 1490.
George F. Harding Deaccessions Fund; Restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Vance; The Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J.Livingston Fund.

Altered & Adorned: Renaissance Prints in daily life ‘Altered and Adorned: Using Renaissance Prints in Daily Life’ shows the ways in which engravings, woodcuts and etchings functioned in European society during the Renaissance. On view at the Art Institute of Chicago, April 30–July 10, 2011]]>

Source: Art Institute of Chicago / theartwolf.com

The exhibition features more than 100 rare printed objects (including wallpapers, bookplates and headdresses), from the late 15th through early 17th centuries, coming from the Art Institute’s permanent collection and other Chicago institutions.

“Today’s scrapbookers weren’t the first to abuse paper products”, the Art Institute notes in a press release, adding that “Renaissance print owners were regular vandals who cut, pasted, adored, and adorned their personal print collections“. As prints were inexpensive and readily available, most of them show marks of physical intervention by their owners, even though today Renaissance prints are highly prized for their historic and aesthetic importance.

‘Altered and Adorned: Using Renaissance Prints in Daily Life’ is accompanied by a 112-page catalogue —featuring more than 95 illustrations— written by Suzanne Karr Schmidt, curator of the exhibition.

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Art and Love at the Renaissance (exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, 2008-2009)

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'Altered and Adorned': Art Institute of Chicago shows the use of Renaissance prints in daily life