Design for a Ceiling in the Manner of Pergolesi
late 18th century
Medium
Pen and ink, watercolor
Dimensions
sheet: 5 x 13 7/8 in. (12.7 x 35.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1934
Accession Number
34.78.2(29)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate pen and ink drawing with watercolor, titled *Design for a Ceiling in Manner of Pergolesi captures the neoclassical elegance of late 18th-century British ornamental design. Created by an anonymous British artist, it measures a modest 5 x 13⅞ inches, serving as a preparatory sketch for an elaborate ceiling decoration. The work emulates the style of Michelangelo Pergolesi, an Italian artist who popularized intricate, Pompeii-inspired motifs in London's fashionable interiors during the 1760s–1780s. In the Georgian era, such designs adorned the grand homes of the aristocracy, blendin...