Project for a Public Monument
Medium
Pen and black ink, with gray and brown wash, over black chalk underdrawing, with a blue wash border
Dimensions
sheet: 15 3/16 x 24 3/8 in. (38.5 x 61.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
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
2008.598
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1770–1847), a prominent French neoclassical architect and son of the renowned naturalist Alexandre Brongniart, created this intricate *Project for a Public Monument* (n.d.). Rendered as a preparatory drawing, it envisions a grand architectural structure adorned with human figures and integrated buildings, reflecting the era's fascination with monumental civic art. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, such designs symbolized national pride and Enlightenment ideals, often proposed for public spaces in post-Revolutionary France. The artwork showcases Bron...