Design for a Gold and Silver Bishop's Reliquary
late 18th century
Medium
Pen and black ink, brush with gray, yellow, red and blue wash, highlighted with white gouache over lead or graphite on cream laid paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions
16-1/4 x 14-1/4 in. (41.2 x 36.2 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, 1949
Accession Number
49.19.74
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite drawing, titled *Design for a Gold and Silver Bishop Reliquary*, dates the late 18th century and showcases a collaboration between Giovanni Larciani—known the "Master of the Kress Landscapes"— the renowned Roman goldsmith Luigiadier. Created as a preparatory sketch for an ornate ecclesiastical object, it depicts a lavish reliquary intended to house sacred relics, adorned with figures of men and playful putti (cherubic children), evoking the grandeur of Catholic ritual objects during the Neoclassical era. Executed in pen and black ink with vibrant brush washes in gray, yellow, r...
About the Artist
Giovanni Larciani ("Master of the Kress Landscapes")|Luigi Valadier · 1700–1800
Giovanni di Lorenzo Larciani (1484–1527), a Florentine painter known initially as the "Master of the Kress Landscapes," emerged from obscurity in the mid-1990s through the scholarship of Louis Waldman, who linked him to documents including a 1521 contract for an altarpiece. Born and active in Florence until his death, Larciani specialized in religious scenes enriched by vivid, atmospheric landscap...