Studies for a Ceiling (recto and verso)

Former Attribution Formerly attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) Italian
ca. 1660–80
Not on view
This sheet of energetic sketches has been attributed to the French seventeenth-century painter Michel Corneille the Younger, a successful and prolific decorator of royal residences. The artist studied in Italy and trained under Pierre Mignard (French, 1613–1676) and Charles Le Brun (French, 1619–1690). Corneille the Younger was also a practiced printmaker, who was employed by the German banker Everhard Jabach (1618–1695) to engrave the best Italian drawings in his collection. The artist covered the sheet here with a large number of individual sketches, featuring ideas for figural groups, for ornament, and for the overall scheme of a compartmentalized ceiling. Although it is not certain for which building this ceiling design was intended, the ornamental motifs and the crisp style of draftsmanship are thoroughly characteristic of Corneille’s work.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Studies for a Ceiling (recto and verso)
  • Artist: Michel Corneille the Younger (French, Paris 1642–1708 Paris)
  • Former Attribution: Formerly attributed to Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) (Italian, Cortona 1596–1669 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1660–80
  • Medium: Pen and dark brown ink over traces of leadpoint (recto); pen and dark brown ink over leadpoint (verso)
  • Dimensions: 11 5/16 x 17 3/8 in. (28.8 x 44.1 cm)
  • Classifications: Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
  • Credit Line: Edward Pearce Casey and Harry G. Sperling Funds, 1995
  • Object Number: 1995.254
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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