Allegorical Figures for a Ceiling Decoration
17th century
Medium
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on beige paper.
Dimensions
11 3/8 x 15 15/16 in. (28.9 x 40.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1972
Accession Number
1972.224.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the opulent world of 17th-century French Baroque art, *Allegorical Figures for a Ceiling Decoration* stands as a collaborative preparatory drawing by Pierre Mignard and Michel Corneille the Elder. Created during an era when grand palaces and churches demanded lavish ceiling frescoes symbolizing virtues, power, or mythology, this work sketches dynamic figures—men, women, and infants—poised for illusionistic overhead grandeur. Mignard, a leading portraitist and history painter at Louis XIV's court, and Corneille, renowned for his intricate decorative designs, exemplify the era's emphasis on m...
About the Artist
Pierre Mignard |Michel Corneille the Elder (French) · 1612 –1695
French, Troyes 1612–1695 Paris