Design for an altar
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 1/8 x 7 15/16 in. (28.3 x 20.2 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, 1948
Accession Number
48.91.9
Art Historical Context
This delicate graphite drawing, titled *Design for an Altar*, to the early 18 century and exemplifies the ornate architectural sketches produced across Europe during the Baroque era Attributed variously to an anonymous German artist, Daniel Marot the Elder—a renowned French-Dutch designer known for his lavish Protestant interiors—or an anonymous Bolognese Italian from the same period, it captures the grandeur of ecclesiastical design. At just 11 1/8 x 7 15/16 inches, the sheet served as a preparatory study, likely intended for a church altar adorned with intricate columns, pediments, and sculp...