Project for a Fête Decor
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions
sheet: 9 1/4 x 14 1/8 in. (23.5 x 35.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Alain and Marie-Christine van den Broek d'Obrenan Gift, 2008
Accession Number
2008.597
Tags
Art Historical Context
Louis Pierre Baltard (1764–1846), a prominent French architect and, created this *Project for a Fête* as a preparatory drawing for festive decorations, likely intended for grand public celebrations common in late 18th- and early 19th-century France. During this era of Revolution, Empire, and Restoration, elaborate *fêtes* featured temporary architectural spectacles—triumphal arches, illuminated pavilions, and landscaped settings—to symbolize national pride or royal pomp. Baltard's design, with its buildings nestled in expansive landscapes, captures the theatricality of these events, blending n...