Design for a Ceiling Decoration (recto); Daphne Pursued by Apollo (verso)

Art Historical Context

Lorenzo de' Ferrari, a leading Genoese artist of the late Baroque era (active ca. 1680–1744), created this exquisite double-sided drawing as a preparatory design for grand architectural interiors. The recto features an ornate *Design for a Ceiling Decoration*, showcasing intricate motifs suited for the opulent palaces and churches of 18th-century Italy. Flipping to the verso reveals a dynamic rendition of *Daphne Pursued by Apollo*, drawn from Ovid's *Metoses*—a timeless tale of unrequited love where the nymph Daphne transforms into a laurel tree to escape the god's advances. Crafted with pen and brown ink over black chalk on the recto for precise, architectural detailing, and fluid black chalk alone on the verso for expressive movement, the sheet exemplifies Baroque draftsmanship techniques. These media allowed artists like de' Ferrari, renowned for frescoes and stucco work in Genoa, to plan elaborate ceiling schemes that filled viewers' gazes with illusionistic splendor and narrative drama. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Curtis O. Baer, 1971), this 12⅜ × 8⅜-inch gem offers a window into the creative process behind Italy's lavish decorative arts, blending ornament with mythology to inspire awe.