Design for the Decoration of the Altar to be erected during the Holy Week, Dedicated to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris

Louis Jean Desprez

1769 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

Large sheet with a frontal view of an altar surmounted by a large (temporary) baldachin, meant to decorate the altar during the Holy Week, specifically on Maundy Thursday and Holy Friday. The structure carries the fleurs-de-lis of France and is surmounted by a Patriarchal cross. Below the design, Desprez has included a dedication to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, archbishop of Paris from 1746 until his death in 1781. The print is an example of the early work of Louis-Jean Desprez in France, and it is with this design in particular that he won the Great Prize of the Academie d’Architecture in 1770, a crucial moment in his career as this allowed him to travel to Italy. The print was originally part of a set of six which detailed the design further by way of sections and floorplans, but this sheet was the most important in its representation of the overall design and the dedication to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont.

Artist

Louis Jean Desprez

Date

1769

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest; Christie's Inc., PECO Foundation, and University of California, Berkeley Gifts; and Edward Pearce Casey Fund, 2017