Study for a Fresco: Allegory in Honor of Ranuccio Farnese

A pen, ink and brown wash drawing shows a crowded ceremonial scene beneath a domed, columned structure. A seated, richly draped central figure receives kneeling and standing courtiers while onlookers, some reclining in the foreground, fill the stepped terraces. Classical buildings and a distant dome recede on either side.

Artist

Francesco Salviati

Date

before 1553

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, white oxidized gouache, black chalk on white laid paper

Source

Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

Size

3000 × 2387 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Smithsonian Institution, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum