Album of Drawings by the Bibiena Family and Others

This album of 113 drawings was probably assembled at the end of the eighteenth century. An important sourcebook for Bibiena scholars, it includes many sheets by the Bibienas and their circle—such as Studies for a Proscenium Arch by Ferdinando Bibiena, to which the album is opened. The album also contains a group of drawings by Neapolitan artists of the later seventeenth century. The variety of designs from different schools and workshops might indicate that the volume incorporates material from several earlier compilations. Acquired by Jules Fisher from Wildenstein & Company in 1972, the album has been on deposit at the Morgan since 1987.