The exhibition captures the development of ornamentation between the Renaissance and the Rococo

Prague - The results of an international project focusing on the development of ornamentation in visual arts and crafts are presented in an exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts. Prague experts collaborated on the Ornamental Prints project with colleagues from Berlin and Vienna, creating an online database of their collections of ornamental templates. The project was supported by the European Union as part of the Culture 2000 program.
The exhibition Templates and Prefigurations - Ornamental Engravings will run until January 6. It captures the development of ornament from the Italian and German Renaissance to the Rococo period, exemplified by ornamental engravings that served as templates for architects, artists, and decorators since the 16th century.
Represented are Renaissance grotesques and arabesques, Mannerist fantasies by Aegidius Sadeler and Stefan della Bella, as well as works by Baroque designers Jean Lepautre, Daniel Marot, and Francoise de Cuvilliés.
The exhibition was prepared at the conclusion of the Ornamental Prints project, which has been a collaborative effort since last year between the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, and the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna.