Designs for Arched Doorway
19th century
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor
Dimensions
10 1/8 x 5 1/2in. (25.7 x 14cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1969
Accession Number
69.660.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, *Designs for Archedway* by 19th-century artist Charlesblond captures the elegance of architectural planning in a compact 10 1/8 x 5 1/2-inch sheet. This delicate drawing intricate arches and doorways, hallmarks of period architecture that evoked grandeur and symmetry, often seen in public buildings, churches, or grand estates. Monblond's work the era's fascination with classical motifs revived during the Romantic and historicist movements, where architects sketched ideas to blend functionality with ornate beauty. Rend...
About the Artist
Charles Monblond · 1800–1900
**Charles Monblond**, a French painter and designer born in Paris, flourished during the mid- to late nineteenth century, capturing the ornate spirit of Second Empire decorative arts through his meticulous drawings and paintings. Residing at 9 Rue Marignan, he studied under M. Ch. Polisch, honing skills that blended floral still lifes with architectural ornamentation. In 1866, Monblond sought perm...