Altar Design
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-446-45
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This print, titled Altar Design, was created by the French artist D. Antoine Pierretz, who was active around 1647. Dating from 1647 to 1655, it presents a design for an altar and offers a window into the decorative and architectural practices of mid-17th-century France. As a print, the work belongs to a medium widely used at the time to share and refine ideas for religious spaces. Little is recorded about Pierretz beyond this period of activity, and research on the piece remains in progress. Yet the print itself highlights the role of such images in planning sacred interiors, allowing artists, patrons, and craftsmen to visualize elaborate church furnishings. Acquired for the Smithsonian American Art Museum by the Advisory Council, it now forms part of a collection that preserves historical European design for American audiences. Visitors can enjoy how this modest sheet captures the care and invention that went into 17th-century religious art, even as further study continues to reveal more about its maker and original purpose.