Design for a Fan

The function of this engraving is not entirely certain. The feathery fan was probably meant to be cut out and pasted onto some stiff paper or a thin sheet of wood. Was it also meant to be mounted onto a handle to make a fan, onto a band to make a headdress, or for some other decoration' Whatever the case, it’s a clever way to make things dressy. It’s also adaptable. While a woman might want to keep the goddess Diana on the central badge, a man might paste the god Apollo in that space. The horizontal oval below features a satyr spying on a bathing nymph, but that user could swap out that scene for the Three Graces or Neptune and Bellona.