Design for the right half of a chimneypiece

Anonymous, Italian, 17th century

17th century · Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over leadpoint · Drawings and Prints

By the seventeenth century, chimneypieces had become an important object of design within the interior. Examples in late Renaissance and early Baroque styles were often highly sculptural, heavily ornate and very colorful feats of design bravura. The love for the theatrical, which characterized the Baroque period, meant that a certain level of monumentality was pursued. In that respect, these two drawings show designs of a relatively modest nature, although colored marbled and gilding could transform their final look dramatically.

Artist

Anonymous, Italian, 17th century

Date

17th century

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over leadpoint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1958