Design for Stage Set with Double Storey of Torqued Columns and Balustrades.
1659–1739
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash over traces of graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 10 3/16 x 7 5/8 in. (25.8 x 19.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1971
Accession Number
1971.513.61
Tags
Art Historical Context
Francesco Galli Bibiena (9–1739), a master of Baroque theatrical architecture from the illustrious Bibiena family of Italian designers, created this intricate *Design for Stage Set with Double Storey of Tored Columns and Balustr*. Rendered in pen and brown ink with brush and gray wash over graphite underdrawing, the sheet (10 3/16 x 7 5/8 in.) captures a grand, multi-level interior scene alive with twisted columns and ornate balustrades, ev the dramatic illusion of vast palaces or temples on stage. Bibiena revolutionized stage design in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, pioneering the *...