Two Alternate Designs for a Doorway

The artist who drew this design has made clever use of his sheet of paper by combining two different variations for the design of a marble doorway in one drawing. Since Baroque art was characterized by its symmetry, only one half of the design sufficed to create an understanding of the whole. The drawing was bought as part of a large group of Piedmontese designs for interior architecture, which illustrate the transitions in style from Baroque to Rococo and finally Neoclassicism. This design in particular is interesting because it incorporates the transition from the late Baroque to the Rococo style. The overall, somewhat austere character of the architecture is still typical for the Baroque, but the ornaments on top of the door frame herald the new interest in the whimsical rocaille ornaments which resemble shell shapes or the crest of a wave.