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Design for ceiling decoration - God the Father with a globe

Maker

(artist)
1675-1734

Title

Medium

graphite, pen and ink (brown), wash (brown), bodycolour (white) on blue laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 20 cm
Width: 40 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3503

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This ceiling design by English Baroque designer and painter James Thornhill depicts intricate rectilinear decorative elements rendered in illusionistic perspective. The central design for a fresco of God the Father with a globe is squared to ensure it is drawn in proportion with the rest of the ceiling. It was only necessary to draw half of the design since the same elements would be mirrored on the opposite side.

Provenance

an anonymous eighteenth-century collection; sale of that collection, Sotheby's (London), 2 February 1944, lot 113 (with D.1952.RW.3501 and 3504); purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), for £8; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Special Display - The Grid, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 26/01/2012-28/05/2012

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 52

Inscriptions

Inscription: 2

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