• Unknown (draughtsman)

Design for an altarpiece frame

16th century

- This drawing represents an altar, perhaps a shallow side altar of a type increasingly demanded by the Counter-Reformation cult of saints. The dimensions of the rectangular form between the column pedestals (6 x 3 3/4 piedi, according to scale) are appropriate for an altar table. Freehand perspective on the inside right face of the arch indicates the shallowness of the niche, most likely meant to contain a devotional image in the form of a panel painting. A plan of one pair of the engaged columns figures on the lower right. The cardinal's hat signals a religious patron whose coat of arms once appeared in the now badly- abraded centre of the cartouche.

• design development drawing

Pen and brown ink and wash with black chalk on laid paper

sheet: 32.4 x 16.8 cm (12 3/4 x 6 5/8 in.)

DR1969:0016

• line drawing
• rendering

• elevation (drawing)

inscribed - by the draughtsman, in pen and brown ink, u.c.: with an illegible inscription on panel above arch; c.r. and l.r.: with illegible numbers inscribed - by an unknown contemporary hand, in pen and brown ink, verso, c.: with an illegible inscription; and c.r., c. and l.c.: with several calculations

• design d'intérieur

• aedicule