Design for a Stage Set
1830–1900
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.529.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
Eugène Cicéri's *Design for a Stage Set (ca. 1830–1900) captures the grandeur of 19th-century French theater, a golden age for Romantic opera and ballet at venues like the Paris Opéra As a leading stage designer, Cicéri specialized in creating immersive environments that blended architecture, lighting, and fantasy, often drawing on Gothic and classical motifs to enhance dramatic narratives. This drawing, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, exemplifies his preparatory sketches, essential for coordinating carpenters, painters, and machinists in the pre-electricity...
About the Artist
Eugène Cicéri · 1813–1890
Étienne Eugène Cicéri (1813-1890) was a French painter, lithographer, and theatrical designer who became a notable figure in the Barbizon School movement. Born in Paris on January 27, 1813, into an illustrious artistic family, he was the son of renowned scenographer Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri and the nephew of painter Eugène Isabey. Cicéri occupies an important position in 19th-century French land...