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Plate V. Fernando Galli-Bibiena (1657-1743), interior decoration, wash drawing , 1657-1743

 Item

Scope and Content

From the Collection: This publication contains 22 plates; our collection contains 17 of the 22 plates. This collection is missing plates numbered 1, 9, 10, 19, and 22. The collection is organized in its original publication order, based on supporting descriptive documents from the original publication. This collection is also missing its descriptive booklet; the collection has been described thanks to the assistance of the University of Illinois who has graciously digitized and shared their copy of the booklet and their collection of plates.

The collection brings together a variety of architectural designs and influences used on theatrical stages between the 17th and 19th centuries. Its primary focus is on stage designs from Vienna, where Gregor was most active. The artists themselves were also active in Vienna, but brought together influences from Italy, France, and Germany.

Featured plays of the designs include those on Greek and Roman mythology, specifically Andromeda, Hercules, and Galatea, the Passion of the Christ, and the second portion of Faust, as well as opera serias, nature dramas, world theatre, and féeries (fairy plays). One plate also features Egyptian architectural influence.

Architectural motifs include theatrical wings, Corinthian columns, triumphal arches, cupolas, pyramids, castles, staircases, temples, and obelisks. Other thematic motifs include decoration, symmetry, Romanticism, ruins, light and shadow, perspective, and religious pageantry. Most notably, the plates featured in this collection demonstrate a strong example of Baroque art and architecture, which was popular during the time of the designs’ creations.

Plate materials include pencil drawings, wash drawings/brush drawings, watercolor drawings, etchings, pen drawings, sepia drawings, engravings, and colored sketches.

Featured artists include:

Lodovico Ottavio Burnacini (listed as L. O. Burancini), an Italian architect, and theatrical designer who served the imperial court in Vienna in the 17th century. He is considered a master of drawing and one of the most important “theater engineers” in Baroque Europe. His work is influenced by Venetian architecture from his upbringing in Italy. After moving to Vienna in 1651, he designed festivals, imperial court decorations, and theater constructions. His work also included perfecting the Italian creation of backdrops for the use of theatrical performances. In 1659, he was appointed as the imperial court architect and stage designer, a role which was well-deserved considering the daily festivities that occurred throughout cultural life in Vienna. Burnacini was also commissioned for architectural work toward the end of the 17th century, including the reconstruction of the Imperial Theater Favorita, a design for which appears in this collection.

Burnacini is responsible for designing plates 2 and 4. Plate 2 features a collection of motifs from Greek mythology and Christian religion. The pageantry of gods and goddesses in the clouds is paired with the hieratic scene of the decoration of a horse by priests. In perspective, he has included architectural wings on both sides of the drawing: on the left, through buildings; on the right, through a grouping of trees. Plate 4 draws upon the “romanticism of ruins” (Gregor p. 11) through small buildings on either side of a decaying temple. Gregor surmises that this design was destined for the Imperial Theater Favorita, and that the temple is representative of contemporary Austrian architecture.

Andrea Pozzo, also known as Brother Andrea Pozzo, was an Italian Jesuit brother who acted as a Baroque painter, architect, decorator, and stage designer throughout the 17th century. He is best known for his use of quadratura technique to create three-dimensional space on flat surfaces, specifically on frescoes throughout churches across Europe. Much of his work is influenced by religious themes, following his entrance into the Jesuit Order in 1665. After many years of painting churches, chapels, domes, and altars across Rome, he was invited to work for the monarchy in Vienna in the early 18th century. He continued his decorative work, including a ceiling fresco of the Hercules Hall of the Liechtenstein garden palace in 1707 and altarpieces across Vienna. In 1693 and 1698, Pozzo published his Perspectiva pictorum at architectorum, which served as one of the earliest manuals on perspective for artists and architects.

Pozzo designed plate 3, which heavily features religious motifs and hieratic scenery. It brings together a structure featuring Baroque architecture with triumphal arches and Corinthian columns along with the use of cloud theater upholding a group of Patres Ecstatici lifting towards a shining aureole. Gregor describes the scene as “architecture merely as a means to express an imaginative, spiritually hieratic movement” (p. 10).

This collection heavily features the work of the Galli da Bibiena family, a family of Italian artists active in the 17th and 18th centuries. The family began with the father, Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena, and is known for their use of Baroque style in their theatrical designs. The collection includes the work of:

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena (listed as Fernando Galli-Bibiena), the son of Giovanni. He worked across Bologna, Barcelona, and Vienna, creating scenic and theatrical designs for court festivities and opera performances. He is known for introducing an angular perspective into his decorations, replacing the vertical axis with a diagonal axis. He is responsible for plates 5 and 6 in the collection. Plate 5 features an imaginary double arch with a hall in the background, and plate 6 features a “world theatre” design showcasing the activity of a port reminiscent of Vienna or Dresden.

Francesco Bibiena (listed as Francesco Galli-Bibiena), the second son of Giovanni. After working throughout Italy, he moved to Vienna and was commissioned to build a large theater. He was the first member of the family to build theaters as well as design sets. His work was a great influence on theater design throughout the first half of the 18th century in Germany and Austria. He became the “First Theatrical Engineer” of Vienna in 1709 by Emperor Joseph I’s appointment. Both Francesco and his brother Ferdinando were responsible for establishing the Galli da Bibiena family’s artistic reputation. He is responsible for plates 7 and 8 in the collection, both of which feature the design of a castle. The castle of plate 7 is a design for the third act of the second portion of Faust; the castle of plate 8 is noted to be a lighter version that superimposes the structures from left to right.

Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (listed as Guiseppe Galli-Bibiena and as Joseph Galli Bibiena in the caption of the plate), son of Ferdinando and grandson of Giovanni. He is considered the most distinguished artist of the Galli da Bibiena family. His early education consisted of assisting his father with work for the monarchies of Prussia and Austria. He took over for his father in 1717 and became the “Second Theatrical Engineer” of Vienna, organizing the court festivities and official functions. He was promoted to “First Theatrical Engineer” in 1723. His designs focused on detail, majesty, and grandeur, all within the Baroque style of the time period. His significance in the court diminished following the death of Charles VI in 1740, as his successor, daughter Maria Theresa, did not value theatre as part of her reign.

He is responsible for plates 11, 12, 13, and 14. Plate 11 is a design for a scene from the Passion of the Christ, specifically Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, and features the hieratic scene surrounded by the architectural framework of Baroque-style ruins. Plate 12 is an interior design, the caption for which reads, “Scene of the Theatrical Festival on the occasion of the Nuptials of the Royal Prince of Poland and Electoral of Saxony” (translation from Italian). It features costumes and furniture designs within the scenic frame. Plate 13 also features the romanticism of ruins, acting as the structure for the story of Andromeda, the Greek mythological figure. Plate 14 uses “free play of architectural form (ruins)” (Gregor p. 13) and creates a powerful scene using motifs of obelisks, arches, and columns.

Giuseppe is also indirectly responsible for the creation of plate 15, which is credited to a student of the school of Giuseppe’s. It is a drawing featuring a wealth of architectural motifs that sends the eye upwards across the page with its craftsmanship.

Jean-Nicolas Servandoni (listed as G. N. Servandoni, or Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni) was an Italian decorator, architect, and scene painter, among other skills. He was educated in Rome and London and found early work in Paris, as well as for public festivals in England and Portugal. He produced a series of successful theatrical productions in the mid-18th century that used the style of 17th century machine plays and pantomime. His architectural works survive in France and Belgium. He is the designer of plate 16, a drawing of a besieged town that utilizes shadow and light to create a dramatic atmosphere.

Antonio Sacchetti was an Italian scenic designer and painter. He was the son of Lorenzo Sacchetti, another renowned decorative painter and architect. Sacchetti worked with his father in Brno before pursuing his own career in Prague in 1829. He moved to Warsaw, where he painted backdrops for plays and operas at the Grand Theatre before opening a “panoramic agency” exhibiting panoramic paintings of Eastern European cities and famous historical events. He worked in Vienna in 1833 as well as Berlin in 1834.

Sacchetti is believed to be responsible for plate 17, which features a triumphal arch flanked by two obelisks decorated with heraldic motifs. The caption notes that the design was created for an opera seria, likely the Baroque Italian opera Ercole su’l Termodonte (Hercules). An opera seria refers to a noble and serious style of Italian opera that was performed across Europe in the early 18th century.

Lorenzo Quaglio (listed as L. Quaglio) was an Italian stage designer that worked in Mannheim and Munich, Germany. He is noted for designing the first production of Mozart’s opera Idomeneo. His design of plate 18 uniquely features Egyptian influences of hieroglyphic decorations on the columns and a pyramid rising into light in the background.

Gaspare Galliari (listed as Gasparo Galliari) was an Italian painter known as a master of scenography and creator of capricci, or architectural fantasies. His design of plate 20 draws upon the “theatrical values of light and shade” (Gregor p. 14), giving a “dignity of expression” to the architecture in the image. The design features a great many arches and stairways, as well as overarching walkways that break the aforementioned light into shadow across the design.

The two additional contributors include:

Johann Andreas Pfeffel (listed as J. A. Pfeffel in the caption of the plate) an Austrian-born engraver who trained in Vienna and was later appointed the Hofkupferstecher (Court Engraver). Not much information can be found of his history. He is credited with the etching on plate 12.

Francesco Zucchi, an Italian engraver who reproduced paintings of cities in Italy and book illustrations. He was responsible for the illustrations of the 1742 Italian translation of Paradise Lost. Though his work is found in Austria, it is believed he was sending his work from Venice to Dresden. Zucchi is credited with the engraving done for plate 20.

Dates

  • 1657-1743

Creator

Extent

From the Collection: 1 folders (1 folder in Mapcase M-1-1)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Type of Material:

wash drawing

Condition Note:

Good

Measurements:

L: 7 ⅞” H: 18 ¾”

Title:

Plate V. Fernando Galli-Bibiena (1657-1743), interior decoration, wash drawing

Description:

A drawing of a double arch with a hall in the background that utilizes baroque architecture. It features many columns and great arches covered in various statues of women and childlike beings. The drawing is crafted with great detail and many references to theatrical motifs.

This collection heavily features the work of the Galli da Bibiena family, a family of Italian artists active in the 17th and 18th centuries. The family began with the father, Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena, and is known for their use of Baroque style in their theatrical designs. The collection includes the work of:

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena (listed as Fernando Galli-Bibiena), the son of Giovanni. He worked across Bologna, Barcelona, and Vienna, creating scenic and theatrical designs for court festivities and opera performances. He is known for introducing an angular perspective into his decorations, replacing the vertical axis with a diagonal axis. He is responsible for plates 5 and 6 in the collection. Plate 5 features an imaginary double arch with a hall in the background.

Repository Details

Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository

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