Design for the Corner of a Ceiling
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush with brown, pink, blue, green and yellow wash, over black chalk on cream paper
Dimensions
7-15/16 x 9-13/16 in. (20.2 x 25 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.641
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate 17th drawing, *Design for the Corner of Ceiling*, hails from the vibrant Roman-Bolognese school of Italy, a hub of Baroque innovation where artists blended Roman grandeur with Bolognese precision. Created anonymously by a skilled draftsman, it served as a preparatory study for ornate architectural decoration, likely intended for a palace or church vault. Such designs were essential in the era's opulent interiors, where illusionistic frescoes and stucco work created heavenly illusions, evoking the drama of the Counter-Reformation. The artwork showcases masterful mixed-media techn...