Architectural Capriccio with a Monumental Arch
18th century
Medium
Gouache with touches of gum arabic on antique laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 18 1/2 x 26 in. (47 x 66 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2008
Accession Number
2008.538.22
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Nicolas Servandoni'sArchitectural Capriccio with a Monumental Arch*18th century) invites viewers into a dreamlike vision of antiquity, blending grand arches and evocative ruins in a fantastical composition. As an Italian-French architect, painter, and stage designer, Servandoni was renowned for his dramatic theatrical sets and architectural fantasies, which captured the 18th-century fascination with classical grandeur amid the rise of neoclassicism and the Grand Tour era. This drawing exemplifies the *capriccio* genre—whimsical scenes merging real Roman-inspired elements with imaginative ...