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This is a drawing of various sketched figures in dynamic poses. The artwork consists of multiple lightly drawn figures and forms, dispersed across the paper in a seemingly random arrangement. These sketches appear to display flowing robes and suggest movement or action. The delicate lines and curves convey fluidity and a sense of liveliness.
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This is a drawing of various sketched figures in dynamic poses. The artwork consists of multiple lightly drawn figures and forms, dispersed across the paper in a seemingly random arrangement. These sketches appear to display flowing robes and suggest movement or action. The delicate lines and curves convey fluidity and a sense of liveliness.

National Gallery of Art · Drawing

A Compartmented Ceiling with Allegories and Myths

Alessandro Maganza

Date
late 1580s
Medium
pen and brown ink over light black chalk and heavy black chalk (laid on eighteenth-century Venetian album sheet)
Dimensions
overall: 35.5 × 27.3 cm (14 × 10 3/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Accession number
1999.63.6
Credit line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Time span
1551 to 1600
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • Venetian
  • ceiling design
  • architecture
  • classical
  • allegory
  • Circe
  • Planets
Provenance

Janos Scholz [1906-1993], New York; Philip Leroux, London; Lodewijk Houthakker [1926-2003] (Lugt undescribed [hand holding a pen]), Amsterdam; (Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1992); Jak Katalan, New York, 1992; (Paul Prouté S. A., Paris, by 1999); purchased 1999 by NGA.

Watermarks

angel in a single circle with quatrefoil above, countermark of a box with "X" on left and trefoil above; compare Briquet 653, 659, 660, 662 (Ferrare, Syracuse, Salo, Udine 1583-1587)

NGA object ID 109837. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.