View from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, Baltimore

View from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, Baltimore

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A highly engaging work with seemingly abundant clues to its subject embedded in a meticulously detailed composition, this drawing continues to baffle scholars. The sheet is captivating: stippled overall and enhanced with sgraffito (a scratching technique to reveal the white of the paper), the architectural interior was delineated with the aid of a rule, while the sheer draperies and distant landscape were drawn freehand. The artist apparently overlooked no tiny feature that fell within his observation. The deceptively informative title and the approximate execution date passed down with the drawing through the family of the donor. Yet every attempt to attach the meticulously rendered scene to the Briscoe family has failed.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

View from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, BaltimoreView from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, BaltimoreView from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, BaltimoreView from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, BaltimoreView from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, Baltimore

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.