July 2020

A special interest of the collector Abrecht Haupt was historical drawings with spatial illustrations of architectural interiors or exteriors. The art of perspective construction was particularly expressed in the designs for theatre backdrops or stage sceneries.  The stage designs and ideal vedutas of members of the Italian artistic family Galli da Bibiena, who dominated this field with their complex spatial sceneries especially during the 18th century, were already held in high esteem at the time of Haupt.  The Haupt collection contains drawings and sketches by almost all members of this family, including the stage decorator and theatre architect Carlo Galli da Bibiena (* 1728 in Vienna; † 1787 in Florence), who worked in Bayreuth and Munich. In contrast to most of the unsigned sketches of the Bibienas, the record sheet shown here is signed by him with "Architeto .Carlo Bibiena. Inventor fece". It shows the view into a medieval-looking castle courtyard, for the spatial framework of which the artist used a combination of partly fantastic elements and architectural motifs from medieval architecture, but also "native" half-timbered forms, as he probably got to know them in the surroundings of Bayreuth. The question of whether the scenery can actually be assigned to a particular stage work will possibly be clarified in the course of the project.

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