Design for a Door and Stucco Overdoor Decorations

Design for a Door and Stucco Overdoor Decorations

Anonymous, Italian, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing shows a design for a door and overdoor, both decorated with moldings. The inscription added on the left side of the drawing contains instructions for the execution and gilt finishings. It also describes that mirrors should be added in the compartments of the door which is indicated by the use of gray wash. The door gave access to a ‘Stanza di Udienza’, an official room for receiving guests, which indicates that this until now unidentified design was meant for an important building, possibly a palace or a seat of government.


Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Design for a Door and Stucco Overdoor DecorationsDesign for a Door and Stucco Overdoor DecorationsDesign for a Door and Stucco Overdoor DecorationsDesign for a Door and Stucco Overdoor DecorationsDesign for a Door and Stucco Overdoor Decorations

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.