Corner Decoration of a Painted Ceiling
Flaminio Innocenzo Minozzi
Description
Gallery Rotation Winter 2012:
Flaminio Innocenzo Minozzi
Italy, 1735–1817
Corner Decoration of a Painted Ceiling
Pen and black ink with ink wash
Museum purchase, 1959/2.34
Corner Decoration of a Painted Ceiling
Pen and brown ink with watercolor
Museum purchase 1959/2.77
These two fine drawings of ceiling corners are examples of the draftsmanship of artists working in Bologna during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Composed with delicate pen strokes and areas of wash, the illusionism of these corner sections is marvelous and their acanthus leaves, swags, putti, and balustrades are characteristic of the textural richness of the late Baroque interior. In the drawing with the blue wash, the numerous windows and the grouping of the globe and measuring instruments suggest that this ceiling design may have been destined for a library or other place of learning.
These are probably student works copying earlier designs by Mauro Tesi (1730–1766), Girolamo Mengozzi (1688–1772), or Angelo Michele Colonna (1604–1687). Students copied the work of master artists as an essential component of their training.
Subject Matter:
These two fine drawings of ceiling corners (also 1959/2.34) are examples of the draftsmanship of artists working in Bologna during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These two drawings are probably student works copying earlier designs by Mauro Testi, Girolamo Mengozzi, or Angelo Michele Colonna. Composed with delicate pen strokes and areas of wash, the illusionism of these corner sections is marvelous: acanthus leaves, swags, putti, and balustrades all underscore the textural richness of the late Baroque interior such a ceiling would complement.
Physical Description:
The viewer is presented with an illusionistic rendering of a corner an ornate celiing. Architectural moldings, windows, and a still life in the corner with a globe and measuring instruments suggest that this might have been intended for a library
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