Two One Half Variants of a Design for Painted Wall Decoration with Arch and Perspective View Inside (recto). Negligible diagrams and compass drawn circle (verso).
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray, red-chalk, and yellow wash, over leadpoint or graphite, with ruled construction (recto). Compass construction in leadpoint or graphite, at top (verso). Scribble in black chalk towards bottom (verso)
Dimensions
sheet: 21 x 15 1/8 in. (53.3 x 38.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1965
Accession Number
65.653.78
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 18th-century drawing from Piedmont, Italy, captures the imagination of Baroque-era architectural fantasy. Titled *Two One Half Variants of a Design for Painted Wall Decoration with Arch and Perspective View Inside* (recto), it multiple sketches of grand arches and columns framing illusory interior vistas—perfect for trompe-l'œil wall paintings in opulent palaces or villas. Created anonymously by a skilled Piedmontese artist between 1700 and 1780, it reflects the region's love for dramatic, illusionistic decoration during a time when Piedmont's nobility commissioned lavish interi...