Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Interior of Saint Peter's, Rome

Preview image of work. pen and black ink and brown wash over black chalk on paper, Interior of Saint Peter's, Rome 4195

1956.24.235

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Interior of Saint Peter's, Rome

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Artist

Louis Jean Desprez (Auxerre, France, 1743 - 1804, Stockholm, Sweden)

Title

Interior of Saint Peter's, Rome

Creation Date

1781-1784

Century

18th century

Dimensions

12 7/16 in. x 8 7/8 in. (31.59 cm. x 22.54 cm.)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

Europe, France

Medium and Support

pen and black ink and brown wash over black chalk on paper

Credit Line

Gift of Miss Susan Dwight Bliss

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1956.24.235

The space around Bernini’s altar of St. Peter’s in Rome is transformed into a dramatic spectacle of light and shadow. The source of the light itself is not visible, but can be identified as a large illuminated cross hung in the nave of St. Peter’s during Holy Week. Louis Desprez pictured the cross, glaring with the light of 600 lamps, in a more elaborate drawing that is now in the Louvre. Desprez studied architecture in Paris with Jacques François Blondel (1705--1774) and later settled in the Eternal City for ten years, primarily drawing and painting architectural sites. In 1784 Desprez moved to Sweden to serve King Gustave III as architect and stage designer.

Keywords: figures (representations) interior architecture work on paper master drawing Rome