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Design for a Frieze with Two Women Flanking an Urn

attributed to Giuseppe Cades Italian
ca. 1775–85
Not on view
The highly sculptural features of this design are characteristic for some of the drawings by the artist Giuseppe Cades. Active as a painter and sculptor in Italy during the second half of the 18th century, his designs channel both the influence of the Antique and the Renaissance periods. Although this particular design for a frieze has a very monumental quality to it, its intended purpose is unknown. The fact that Cades introduces two variants for the decoration of the side panels indicates that he was still trying out different ideas. The panel on the right with the hybrid female figure in the almond-shaped frame is repeated in a related drawing kept in the Musée Vivenel (Compiègne, France). There it is combined with three similar female figures, portrayed as caryatids. It has been suggested that the two sheets together form part of a project for the decoration of a wall and ceiling, reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace in Rome. No documentary evidence of such a project has thus far surfaced however and it is unclear whether these designs were ever realized.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Design for a Frieze with Two Women Flanking an Urn
  • Artist: attributed to Giuseppe Cades (Italian, Rome 1750–1799 Rome)
  • Date: ca. 1775–85
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white, over traces of black chalk
  • Dimensions: 13-1/4 x 19-5/16 in. (33.6 x 49.0 cm)
  • Classifications: Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1962
  • Object Number: 62.242
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Christ seated at center and surrounded by children, apostles standing in the background
Giuseppe Cades
1785
Portrait of the Princes Camillo and Francesco Borghese, Giuseppe Cades Italian, Red and black chalk, stumped; heightened with white
Portrait of the Princes Camillo and Francesco Borghese
Giuseppe Cades
1778
Virgin and Child, Giuseppe Cades Italian, Black and red chalk, stumping throughout
Virgin and Child
Giuseppe Cades
1750–99
The Virgin Immaculate with the Christ Child, Giuseppe Cades Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown and gray wash, over black chalk
The Virgin Immaculate with the Christ Child
Giuseppe Cades
1770
Blessed Francis Venimbeni Celebrating Mass for souls in Purgatory, Giuseppe Cades Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk
Blessed Francis Venimbeni Celebrating Mass for souls in Purgatory
Giuseppe Cades
1750–99

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