Giuseppe Bibiena indulged his penchant for combining reality and fantasy, and ancient and Baroque, in his drawings for Architetture, e prospettive (Architecture, and perspectives). Published in 1740, the volume of engravings was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI and included depictions of court performances, sacred theater, and funerary monuments honoring the members of the imperial family. This capriccio is not a preparatory drawing for any of the engravings, but it compares closely to the fantastic cityscapes seen in a number of them.
Watermark: Strasbourg Lily over 4 WR; countermark: IV.
Fisher, Jules, owner.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy: Bibena Drawings from the Jules Fisher Collection", 2021. Exh. cat., no. 14, repr.