Ornament with Two Winged Female Half-Length Figures

Ornament designers hit the motherlode when Emperor Nero’s ancient villa was excavated in Rome in about 1480. A profusion of strange hybrid creatures was found frescoed on underground spaces, or grottos—hence the name grotesques. These fabulous creatures migrated north and inspired this furry-legged nude by Master of the Horse Heads, an unidentified Dutch printmaker known by his horse imagery.