Il fido amante : poema eroico
Il fido amante is a 1582 Italian heroic poem by Curzio Gonzaga, printed in Mantua by G. Ruffinello for a literate reading public. The four pictures are small printed ornamental headpieces, each a horizontal strip of scrollwork centred on a grotesque mask with urn finials or rampant lions at the ends. A designer could draw on their symmetrical cartouche framing, curling acanthus-like scrolls, and mask-centred layouts for decorative borders.
