Design for Stucco Ceiling Decoration, Rococo-Style Ornament

A pale brown sheet with a gray-wash design of scrolling cartouches, shell motifs, and floral garlands framing a central empty field. A mask-like face appears within a shell-topped cartouche at center, and an ornamental figure with wings sits at lower right, all drawn in chalk, wash and white highlights.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1578–1600

Medium

Black chalk, brush and gray wash, white gouache, graphite on paper

Source

Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

Size

4000 × 2801 px

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