Architectural Design with a Decorated Frieze Containing a History Scene and Landscape
17th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over traces of graphite underdrawing.
Dimensions
sheet: 5 7/16 x 14 7/8 in. (13.8 x 37.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952
Accession Number
52.570.108
Art Historical Context
This delicate 17th-century drawing an anonymous Italian artist captures grandeur of Baroque-era architectural fantasy. Titled *Architectural Design with aated Frieze Containing a Scene and Landscape*, it an ornate frieze—a classical band of sculpted decoration—alive with a dynamic historical narrative scene and sweeping landscape views. Such designs were commonplace in Italy during the Counter-Reformation, when architects and decorators envisioned lavish palaces, churches, and villas to inspire awe and convey stories of triumph, faith, or mythology. Executed on a modest sheet (5 7/16 x 14 7/8...