Design for an Arabesque with Cupid and Psyche
1720–40
Medium
Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash
Dimensions
12 1/2 x 8 5/16 in. (31.8 x 21.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1971
Accession Number
1971.513.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing by Claude Gillot captures the elegance of early eighteenth-century French design. Created between 1720 and 1740, the work is a preparatory study for an arabesque—a graceful ornamental motif of scrolling vines, tendrils, and fantastical figures that became a hallmark of Rococo decoration. Gillot, a pioneering draftsman and theatrical designer, helped shape this light, playful style that would influence artists such as Antoine Watteau. Executed in pen and gray ink with subtle washes, the sheet demonstrates his precise line work and sensitivity to tonal effects, qualities th...
About the Artist
Claude Gillot · 1673–1722
Artist known for his elegant designs done in the Rococo manner of Audran; also for his predilection for scenes from the 'comedia dell'arte.' Few paintings survive; his work is known mainly through drawings and etchings. Comment on works: Genre; History