Germany

18th century German drawings

Donato Giuseppe Frisoni (Italian; 1683-1735), design for the salon of the pleasure pavilion, Favorita, at Ludwigsburg, 1718, pen-&-ink, watercolour, gold highlights, 49.5 x 64.5 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York

‘This impressive drawing shows a design for a salon, meant for the pleasure pavilion and hunting castle called ‘Favorita’, in the park of the Palace of Ludwigsburg. The rich, almost fully symmetrical design is executed in a late Baroque style and is decorated all over with gilt stucco ornaments. The latter were a speciality of northern Italy, and it is no surprise that this interior was designed by the Italian architect and stuccoist, Donato Giuseppe Frisoni. He came to Ludwigsburg in 1709 as a partner of Tommaso Soldati (Bergamo, active first quarter of the 18th century), but by 1715 he had been appointed head architect to his patron, Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Württemberg. This design for a salon at the pleasure pavilion Favorita was made in 1718 and carries the handwriting of both men. In the inscription below, Frisoni describes the room and the materials it will be executed in: looking-glasses, marble and stucco. He also mentions that the ceiling was to be painted in fresco. At the lower left, the Duke has left his initials as a sign of his approval of the design.’

Johann Jakob Schübler (1689-1741), design for a funerary monument, 1724-41, pen-&-ink, wash, 27.5 x 17 cm., Metropolitan Museum New York 

‘This is a preparatory drawing by Schübler for a print in a series devoted to designs for funerary monuments… Rising over the tomb is a tapered column decorated by a trophy with symbols of good rulership and crowned by a bust of a Roman emperor.’

Johann Baptist Straub (1704-84), design for the plan & elevation of an altarpiece with SS Peter, Margaret, Paul & Ottilie, ?mid-18th century, Städel Museum, Frankfurt 

Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-88), design for a looking-glass (?) frame, c.1740s-50s, pen, brush, black chalk, white heightening, incised, 41.7 x 29.3 cm., Rijksmuseum 

Christian Stoelzel (1751-1816), Portrait of a young girl in an architectural frame, pencil, red chalk, pen-&-ink, wash, 25.8 x 19.8 cm., Albertina, Vienna 

Johan Oktavien Salver (fl. 1732-88), design for the stucco decoration of a Rococo ceiling, 1755, pencil, ink, wash, 46.8 x 33.7 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York

Johan Oktavien Salvert (fl. 1732-88), design for a Rococo frame, 1750-88, black chalk, ink, wash, incised, 47 x 34.8 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York 

Johan Oktavien Salvert (fl. 1732-88), design for a Rococo frame with flowers, feathers, foliage & grapes, 1750-88,  black chalk, ink, wash, incised, 44.7 x 30.3 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York 

Johan Oktavien Salvert (fl. 1732-88), design for a Rococo frame with liturgical trophies, 1750-88,  black chalk, ink, wash, incised, 46.9 x 34.2 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York 

Johan Oktavien Salvert (fl. 1732-88), design for a Rococo frame with the Eye of Providence at the crest, 1750-88,  black chalk, ink, wash, incised, 46.1 x 33.5 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York 

Johan Oktavien Salvert (fl. 1732-88), design for a Rococo frame with military trophies, and eagles supporting the German imperial crown at the crest, 1750-88,  black chalk, ink, wash, incised, 47.1 x 34.1 cm., Metropolitan Museum, New York