Design for a Festival Display of Fireworks (recto); Small Figures by a different hand (verso)

Art Historical Context

This exquisite 18th-century drawing, attributed to Laurent Hubert and the celebrated French Rococo designer Juste Aurèle Meonnier, captures the exuberant spirit of grand public festivals. On theo, delicate black chalk lines accented with touches of red chalk sketch a dramatic design for a fireworks display, featuring towering architectural structures that frame bursts of pyrotechnics. These preparatory studies evoke the opulent spectacles of the French court and civic celebrations, where fireworks symbolized triumph and delight, often choreographed against temporary pavilions and scaffolds. The verso reveals a contrasting touch: small human figures rendered in red chalk and graphite by a different hand, adding a lively human scale to the festivities. Meissonnier's Rococo flair shines through in the intricate, asymmetrical compositions, blending architecture with ephemeral entertainment—a hallmark of his innovative designs for Versailles-era events. Such drawings were vital blueprints for engravers and builders, preserving the fleeting magic of the era's lavish entertainments. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Elisha Whittelsey Collection, this double-sided sheet (11 x 18½ inches) offers a rare glimpse into the collaborative artistry behind 18th-century spectacle, reminding us how drawings bridged imagination and reality in the Age of Enlightenment revelry.

About the Artist

Laurent Hubert|Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (French|French) · 1780 |1695 –1780 |1750

French, died ca. 1780|French, Turin 1695–1750 Paris