Dance in a Palace
c. 1770/1775
Medium
pen and black ink with gray wash over graphite and squared in graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 26.5 x 33.1 cm (10 7/16 x 13 1/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Christian Humann Foundation
Accession Number
1996.128.31
Art Historical Context
**Dance in a Palace** by Luis Paret y Alcar, created around 1770–1775, captures the opulent world of Spanish courtly life during the Enlightenment era. Paret, a prominent Spanish artist and court painter to Charles III, was known for his elegant Rococo-influenced scenes blending French decorative flair with Spanish grandeur. This drawing likely depicts a lively ballroom gathering in a lavish palace, evoking the refined social rituals of 18th-century aristocracy amid gilded architecture and swirling dancers—a snapshot of leisure and hierarchy in Bourbon Spain. Executed in pen and black ink wit...