Prophets, Patriarchs, Saints, and Music-Making Angels in Glory

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Il Baciccio)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed by the brilliant but tormented architect Francesco Borromini, Sant’Agnese, on the Piazza Navona, is among the most celebrated Baroque churches in Rome. In 1670 Ciro Ferri was commissioned to paint the 'cupola' (dome), but work dragged on and was interrupted by his death in 1689. Hoping to procure this prestigious commission, Baciccio submitted a sketch for the ceiling fresco, which was to represent the Virgin presenting Saint Agnes to the Trinity in the presence of the Heavenly Host (this 'bozzetto' is now in the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf). This detailed and carefully executed drawing records his design for part of that ambitious composition, which was ultimately realized by Sebastiano Corbellini, a mediocre follower of Ciro Ferri, Baciccio's effort having been in vain.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art