Design for a Stage Set: Double Stairway Pierced by an Arcade (recto); Slight Sketch (verso)
1698–1765
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, over traces of graphite or black chalk (recto); Pen and brown ink (verso)
Dimensions
sheet: 4 x 6 1/4 in. (10.2 x 15.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1974
Accession Number
1974.606.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dramatic world of 18th-century Italian theater with this exquisite drawing by Giovanni Battista Natali III, an architect and designer active between 1698 and 1765. Titled *Design for a Stage Set Double Stairway Pierced an Arcade* (recto), it captures a grand architectural vision: symmetrical double stairways framed by an ornate arcade of arches and columns. These elements evoke the illusionistic grandeur typical of Baroque stagecraft, designed to transport audiences into fantastical palaces or mythical realms during operas and plays. Crafted on a modest 4 x 6 1/4-inch sheet, the...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Natali III · 1698–1765
Giovanni Battista Natali III (1698–1765) was an Italian painter active during the eighteenth century, belonging to a distinguished artistic dynasty that extended across several generations in northern Italy. The Roman numeral designation indicates his place within this family lineage of artists, a common circumstance in Italian artistic culture where craft and vocation were frequently passed from ...