Design for a Ceiling Decoration with Chinoiseries

Anonymous, Italian, Bolognese 18th century artist

1725–75 · Watercolor · Drawings and Prints

Design for the trompe l'oeil decoration of a ceiling with architectural elements in a late Baroque/early Rococo vocabulary. Only a quarter of the ceiling is represented with the exception of the central niche at lower right, which has been completed in order to display the full figure group that fills the niche. The figures and attributes are inspired by Asian examples and fall into the genre generally referred to as chinoiseries. In combination with the architectural elements this likely suggests a dating in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The location for which this ceiling design was intended is unknown.

Artist

Anonymous, Italian, Bolognese 18th century artist

Date

1725–75

Medium

Watercolor

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952