Sky Under the Roof... Drawings for Parisian Ceilings in the Grand Siècle

Ceiling decoration underwent a profound transformation in the 17th century. The shift from flat ceilings to vaulted ones inspired artists to develop innovative treatments that played with compartmentalizing space, alternating layers of illusion, and organizing narrative, ornamental and emblematic registers. Through 80 drawings and prints from the museum's holdings and several Parisian collections, the exhibition presents the formal evolution of civil decoration in the French capital over the course of the century, then examines the relationships between drawn projects and engraved repertoires, and concludes with a view of four major undertakings: the Hôtel Lambert, the Mazarin palace, and the Louvre and Tuileries palaces under Louis XIV. It features a mix of quick sketches and more painstaking figure studies; presentation drawings intended for patrons and models for subcontractors or printmakers; projects that had been abandoned and records made prior to destruction; countless works that reveal the central role drawing played in ceiling decoration from design to execution, and our understanding of them over the centuries. Organized by: Bénédicte Gady, Musée du Louvre, Department of Prints and Drawings
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