Page from a Scrapbook containing Drawings and Several Prints of Architecture, Interiors, Furniture and Other Objects
ca. 1800–1850
Medium
Pen and black and gray ink, graphite, black chalk
Dimensions
15 11/16 x 10 in. (39.8 x 25.4 cm)
Classification
Albums|Drawings|Prints|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1963
Accession Number
63.535.104(a, b)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This captivating page from a scrapbook created by the esteemed French architects Pierre François Léonard Fontaine and Charles Percier 1800–1850, offers a glimpse into the opulent world of Napoleonic design. Fontaine and Percier, close collaborators, were pivotal figures the Empire style, blending neoclassical elegance with Egyptian Revival motifs to furnish the residences of Napoleon Bonaparte. Their innovative designs for palaces like the Tuileries and Malmaison set the standard for grandeur and symmetry, influencing furniture, interiors, and architecture across Europe. Rendered in pen and b...
About the Artist
Pierre François Léonard Fontaine|Charles Percier · 1762–1853
Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853) was a pivotal figure in French neoclassical architecture, renowned for his masterful interiors, urban planning, and decorative designs that defined the Empire style. Born in Pontoise to architect and fountain designer Pierre Fontaine, he assisted his father on hydraulic projects at the Château de L'Isle-Adam in 1778–1779 before moving to Paris in 1779. ...