A Palatial Wall Ornamented with Sculptures and Paintings

c. 1570

Andrea Semino

Associated Names
Andrea Semino

Artist, Genoese, 1526? - 1594

This is a drawing of a complex architectural design with ornate decorative elements. The drawing shows the façade of a building or a conceptualized architectural structure featuring intricate details typical of classical architecture. It includes three levels adorned with sculptures set within niches, decorative cornices, and ornamental panels. The top section includes garlands, putti, and urns. Human figures in relief are depicted across the top two levels, enclosed in rounded niches, while more elaborate scenes with multiple figures are seen in two central panels on the middle level. The bottom portion of the structure is simpler with rectangular outlines. Thin pen lines and a light wash suggest that the drawing serves as a preparatory study or design proposal for an architectural project.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink with brown wash over graphite on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle

  • Dimensions

    overall: 26.6 x 41.1 cm (10 1/2 x 16 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1994.9.5


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Lodewijk Houthakker, Amsterdam (hand holding pen or brush, Lugt undescribed); (sale, Christie's, New York, 11 January 1994, no. 7); purchased by NGA, 1994.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1985

  • Wanden en Plafonds. Tekeningen uit de verzameling Lodewijk Houthakker, Nijmegen and Haarlem, 1985, no. 15.

Bibliography

1989

  • Fuhring, Peter. Design into Art, Drawings for Architecture and Ornament: The Lodewijk Houthakker Collection. 2 vols. London, 1989: no. 167 (as "School of Verona, c. 1600").

2012

  • Grasselli, Margaret M., and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., eds. The McCrindle Gift: A Distinguished Collection of Drawings and Watercolors. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2012: 182 (color).

Inscriptions

by later hand, upper left in graphite: Sansovino; by later hand, center left verso in graphite: (not deciphered)

Wikidata ID

Q64535761

You may be interested in

Loading Results