WASHINGTON, DC.- In the Western European tradition, painted ceilings featured some of the most ambitious, compelling, and meaningful compositions for nearly four centuries. Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800 presents some 30 examples of these drawings that illustrate the evolution of ceiling decoration. Many of the drawings have rarely been exhibited. Some are vibrant preliminary studies while others are large-scale models that convey the experience of the intended final painted ceiling. Celebrating the complexity and beauty of this tradition, the exhibition is on view from January 29 through July 9, 2023, in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art.

“In modern architecture and contemporary interior design, ceilings have lost most of their artistic design,” said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art. “This exhibition reveals how these grand projects in private and public spaces throughout Western Europe enticed viewers to pause and look up.”

Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800 features some 30 designs that represent the evolution and principal types of ceiling decoration from this period. Examples range from a field of discrete compartments in the early 16th century to the illusion of suspended canvas paintings along with their frames by the end of the century. Other highlights include drawings that portray an illusion of a single, soaring space teeming with figures in dynamic movement during the baroque period. The exhibition concludes with designs that show the geometric organization and idealized form associated with neoclassicism.

Among the works on view are Friedrich Sustris’s (1540–1599) recently acquired study of Euterpe (Personification of Music) (1569/1573) for a fresco in the Fugger Palace at Augsburg, which was lost in the Second World War; Andrea Pozzo’s (1642–1709) three-foot model for his major project, the decoration of the nave vault of the Church of Sant’lgnazio in Rome (1685/1690); models for spectacular compositions by leading painters of the late baroque in Central Europe, including Cosmas Damian Asam (1686–1739) and Anton Kern (1709–1747); and Giuseppe Benucci’s (active c. 1769) nearly five-foot model for the ceiling of the Church of Ognissanti in Florence (c. 1769).

Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800
National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 29–July 9, 2023

In modern architecture and contemporary interior design, ceilings have lost much of their original, complex meaning, becoming neutral fields or featuring generic decoration. However, in the European tradition that spanned nearly four centuries, ceilings were where the most ambitious, compelling, and meaningful painted compositions appeared.

Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings, 1550–1800 presents some 30 examples of the evolution of ceiling decoration. These works move from architectural frameworks housing conventional paintings to the illusion of a single, soaring space teeming with figures and dynamic movement during the baroque, and then on to the geometric organization and idealized form associated with neoclassism. Some of the drawings are vibrant preliminary studies; others are large-scale models that give a sense of the experience of the intended final composition. Studies of single motifs and individual figures reveal how these grand projects enticed viewers to pause and look up.

The exhibition is curated by Jonathan Bober, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art.