Allegory Glorifying an Unknown Patron
Allegory Glorifying an Unknown Patron

Currently not on view

Allegory Glorifying an Unknown Patron,

before 1743

Daniel Gran, Austrian, 1694–1757
2010-128
This preparatory study for a secular ceiling fresco reflects the vigorous and graceful style of the Viennese court painter Daniel Gran. It probably dates to before 1743, after which his career was dominated by major commissions for monasteries and abbeys. Since Minerva, Fortitude, Hercules, Cybele, and Fame are rarely combined in a single composition, this unusual allegorical design likely honored a specific individual. The composition’s round shape and irregular dimensions suggest that the anticipated location of Gran’s fresco was a concave ceiling in one of the Ahnensäle (ancestral halls of honor) then popular in the palaces of Central Europe.

Information

Title
Allegory Glorifying an Unknown Patron
Dates

before 1743

Maker
Daniel Gran
Medium
Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash over graphite
Dimensions
33.5 x 30 cm (13 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund
Object Number
2010-128
Inscription
in graphite, lower center: Le grand in red chalk, lower right: 236
Culture
Austrian
Type
preparatory studies, drawings
Materials
graphite, ink, laid paper, wash
Subject
figures (representations), warriors, clouds, patrons, angels, allegory, trumpets, Minerva

Galerie Arnoldi-Livie, Munich.

Purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum

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