Published on The Morgan Library & Museum (https://www.themorgan.org)

Home > Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

Zoom image
Download image: 
Image icon 436755v_0001.jpg
Ferdinando Galli Bibiena
1657-1743
Left Portion of a Palatial Hall, a Design for the Stage
ca. 1720-1730
Pen and brown ink and wash, over graphite, on paper.
13 5/8 x 15 inches (346 x 381 mm)
Gift of Jules Fisher.
2021.39
Notes: 

This remarkable working drawing illustrates various stages of the creative process. A graphite underdrawing provided the precise perspective before the artist fluidly rendered the architectural surface ornament of festoons and scrolls in pen and ink. The design also includes notations that suggest how it would be realized in the three-dimensional space of the theater: letters corresponding to different scenery flats that would have come together to create the appearance of a unified stage set. The flats labeled "G" and "H" were probably lowered from the rafters, whereas "B" and "F" would have been wheeled in from the wings of the stage.

Provenance: 
Jules Fisher.
Associated names: 

Fisher, Jules, former owner.

Catalog link: 
See more information ยป
Artist page: 
Bibiena, Ferdinando Galli
School: 
Italian
Century: 
18th century
Classification: 
Drawing
Department: 
Drawings and Prints