Design for a Lunette
1855â1860
Medium
albums (bound) & books
Classification
albums (bound) & books
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Museum purchase through gift of various donors
Accession Number
1901-39-1296
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Design for a Lunette by Giacomo Casa (Italian, 1835–1887) dates to 1855–1860, a vibrant period in Italian art amid the push for national unification. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum part of its collection of bound albums and books, this reflects the meticulous preparatory tradition of 19th-century designers. Casa, active during the Renaissance Revival era, crafted this as a conceptual drawing likely intended for a semi-circular architectural space—a lunette—above doors or windows, where decorative motifs often celebrated grandeur and symbolism. Preserved in an album format, th...