Follower of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

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Follower of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena
1657-1743
Stage Set: Palace Courtyard with Columns and Statues
ca. 1720
Pen and brown ink and gray wash, over graphite, on paper.
14 5/8 x 20 7/8 inches (371 x 530 mm)
Gift of Jules Fisher.
2023.107
Notes: 

A courtyard scena per angolo (scene viewed at an angle) could suggest an expansive palace without depicting the entire structure. The repetition of a few groups of columns prompts the viewer to imagine dozens more, just out of view. Even in the relatively small scale of a drawing, the immersive monumentality is palpable. The drawing is unusual in that it shows alternate schemes, one with and one without a proscenium arch framing the view.

Inscription: 

Recto in brown ink: "Ferdinando Bibiena / fecit a Milano 1720"; verso in graphite: "Ferdinando Bibiena / fecit a Milano 1720".

Provenance: 
Purchased from Il Ponte Casa d'Aste, Milan, 18 April 2018, lot 563; Jules Fisher collection (Fisher Number: JF-149).
Associated names: 

Fisher, Jules, owner.

Bibliography: 

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy: Bibena Drawings from the Jules Fisher Collection", 2021. Exh. cat., no. 6, repr.

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