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Design for The Magic Flute: The Hall of Stars in the Palace of the Queen of the Night, Act 1, Scene 6

Publisher Published by Ludwig Wilhelm Wittich German
1847–49
Not on view
Schinkel, the most prominent and prolific German architect of the nineteenth century, also worked for Berlin’s major theatrical stages. His designs for a 1816 production of Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte remain his best known. Inspired by the Masonic themes incorporated in the opera’s libretto, most of Schinkel’s sets are in a resolutely Egyptian style.The pair shown here at left evokes the land reigned over by the evil Queen of the Night; the two at right are for the opera’s second act, when the princely pair Tamino and Pamina progress through the realm of Sarastro. A selection of thirty-two designs was published several times from 1819 on; the Museum’s impressions appear to be from the first edition. Great care was taken in the publication of the plates, which were finished by hand.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Design for The Magic Flute: The Hall of Stars in the Palace of the Queen of the Night, Act 1, Scene 6
  • Artist: After Karl Friedrich Schinkel (German, Neuruppin 1781–1841 Berlin)
  • Artist: Karl Friedrich Thiele (German, 1780–1836)
  • Publisher: Published by Ludwig Wilhelm Wittich (German, 1773–1832)
  • Date: 1847–49
  • Medium: Aquatint printed in color and hand colored
  • Dimensions: image: 9 x 13 3/4 in. (22.8 x 35 cm)
    plate: 11 3/16 x 15 3/4 in. (28.4 x 40 cm)
    sheet: 13 13/16 x 20 3/16 in. (35.1 x 51.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.602.1(14)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Armchair, Karl Friedrich Schinkel German, Gilded mountain ash; brass mounts and casters; modern upholstery, German, Berlin
Armchair
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Possibly made by Johann Christian Sewining
Possibly made by Karl Wanschaff
ca. 1828
Self-Portrait, turned slightly to the left, Käthe Kollwitz German, Pen and different shades of gray-black ink
Self-Portrait, turned slightly to the left
Käthe Kollwitz
ca. 1893
Seated Giant, Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) Spanish, Burnished aquatint, scaper, roulette, lavis (along the top of the landscape and within the landscape)
Seated Giant
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
by 1818 (possibly 1814–18)
Potpourri vase, Karl Friedrich Schinkel German, Glass, gilded yellow metal, marble, German, Berlin
Potpourri vase
Designer Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Werner & Mieth, Berlin
ca. 1810
Armor, Steel, leather, German, possibly Lower Saxony
Armor
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ca. 1540–50 and later

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