Ceiling Design with the Mystical Wine Press

Art Historical Context

Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints, where we encounter *Ceiling Design with the Mystical Wine Press*, a captivating preparatory drawing from around 1750 by Johann Georg Dieffenunner and Franz Sigrist Created during the height of the Rococo era Europe, this work exemplifies the ornate decorative arts favored for grand ecclesiastical and palatial interiors. The title evokes the "Mystical Wine Press a profound Christian symbol drawn from the Book of Revelation, depicting Christ treading grapes in a press to signify divine judgment and salvation—a motif popular in Baroque and Rococo religious art to inspire awe from above. Rendered in pen and black ink with gray wash for subtle shading, accented by red chalk and squared in red and black chalk, the sheet measures 13 3/16 × 11 3/16 inches. The squaring technique reveals its practical purpose: a detailed cartoon for transferring the design onto a ceiling fresco or stucco decoration, allowing artisans to scale up the intricate composition featuring men, women, and boats amid the symbolic press. This multi-layered medium highlights the collaborative precision of 18th-century draftsmen, blending fine line work with tonal depth for dynamic perspective suited to overhead viewing. Acquired through the Daniel Ergmann Gift in 2014, this drawing offers a window into the meticulous planning behind opulent Rococo ceilings, blending theological depth with artistic virtuosity. Imagine gazing up in a candlelit chapel, the scene unfolding in vivid illusionistic splendor!