Court, Country, City: British Art 1660-1735
HISTORY paintings
Antonio Verrio 1639-1707
Sketch for a Ceiling Decoration: An Assembly of the Gods
about 1680-1700
Oil on canvas
Purchased 1967
T00916
This sketch depicts an assembly of classical gods, with the sun-god Apollo in his chariot at the top. The design is full of incident and includes so many figures that some seem to be falling out of the fictive sky into the real space below.
This design was for a ceiling of an aristocratic patron, and was probably intended for a room at Moor Park Hall, Hertfordshire. Is it possible to detect a distinct ‘aristocratic’ taste in such designs?
