It’s a growing trend for rappers to be recreated as cartoon characters but for Cecilia Azcarate and Ferdinando Verderi, the two New York art directors decided to take things a bit further.
Their Tumblr page B4XVI (as in before the 16th century) aligns the gaudy likenesses of well-known rappers of the day and mirrors their images with drawings from the earlier Renaissance periods and ancient sculptures.
Via Hypebeast:
Comparing contemporary hip-hop stars with historic art from centuries past, New York-based art directors Cecilia Azcarate and Ferdinando Verderi continue to flood their Tumblr page B4XVI with humorous compositions. Describing their ongoing efforts as “highlighting an invisible conversation between hip-hop and art before the 16th century,” Kanye West is positioned alongside Renaissance paintings while Young Thug sits next to Inca-like sculptures. The two started the project after a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and realized the resemblance in dress sense throughout the centuries –from primordial gods to royalties and rap stars.
It takes a real level of genius and historic expertise to pull this off so big kudos to Azcarte and Ferdinando.
Hit the gallery to see all the archaic a-alikes they’ve drummed up thus far.
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Photo: Tumblr/B4XVI
