17 - Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (attributed to)

Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (attributed to) Design for a monumental celebratory structure with floor plan and elevation Pen and brown ink, with gray and brown watercolor on watermarked laid paper, 501 x 362 mm This large sheet is a significant example of the extraordinary design tradition developed by the Galli Bibiena family, the undisputed leaders in European stage design and ephemeral architecture between the 17th and 18th centuries.The composition depicts a monumental structure with a curvilinear design, articulated through a complex succession of columns, arches, balustrades, staircases, and projections, enlivened by a rich array of statues and crowned in the center by an elaborate oval cartouche. At the bottom of the sheet is the architectural plan, meticulously drawn to correspond with the elevation above it.It is precisely the coexistence of the floor plan and the elevation, together with the nearly execution-level precision of the representation, that distinguishes this sheet from more freely rendered scenographic works and allows it to be classified among the specific category of design and presentation drawings produced in the Galli Bibiena workshop for celebratory displays, ephemeral architectural structures, and monumental court machines.The architectural composition, still firmly rooted in a late-Baroque conception, finds significant parallels in the work of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, to whom the monumentality of the whole, the dynamic articulation of the masses, and the rigorous control of perspective all point. At the same time, the architecture’s elegant curvilinear development, the richness of its sculptural elements, and above all the simultaneous presentation of floor plans and elevations bring it very close to the work of Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, who developed and disseminated his father’s architectural language throughout the major European courts.Particularly relevant in this regard are the numerous designs attributed to Giuseppe and his workshop, now preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in which the same conception of the sheet as a tool for architectural presentation recurs, with floor plans and elevations combined and a similar use of pen, brown ink, and gray watercolors. Also of particular interest for the work’s chronological placement is the laid paper bearing a watermark attributable to the Honig family’s production—an important Dutch paper mill whose papers enjoyed very widespread international circulation throughout the 18th century. The designation “C & I HONIG” is already documented in the 1730s, while variations associated with the so-called “Strasbourg lily” were used by the Honig mill at least as early as 1741. The use of this paper is therefore fully consistent with dating the drawing to the first half of the 18th century and, more specifically, to the period spanning the final decades of Ferdinando’s career and the height of Giuseppe’s artistic maturity.The absence of inscriptions within the large oval cartouche at the center of the crowning element may indicate the sheet’s design-oriented nature: the space may have been intended to later accommodate an inscription, a portrait, a motto, or a heraldic emblem related to the specific celebratory occasion.In terms of the quality of its execution, the complexity of its design, and the monumental scale of its conception, the sheet constitutes a significant testament to the graphic artistry of the Galli Bibiena family, with characteristics that allow its attribution to be narrowed down primarily to Ferdinando and Giuseppe Galli Bibiena.Further reading: D. Lenzi, J. Bentini (eds.), *I Bibiena. Una famiglia europea*, Venice, Marsilio, 2000.