Ontwerp voor een plafondschildering met een Triomf van Minerva, in ovaal 1715 - 1798

Dionys van Nijmegen created this design for a ceiling painting with pen and grey ink. The artist was imagining how this design would work on a grand scale, and the architectural setting for which it was intended. The material quality of the drawing—the way the ink bleeds into the paper, the sureness or hesitancy of the lines—gives us a sense of the artist’s process. It’s almost as if we're peering over his shoulder as he works, mapping out the scene with quick strokes. This immediacy invites us to imagine the labour involved in executing the final painting. The drawing acts as a kind of shorthand. It preserves not just the idea but also the physical act of creation. By considering the relationship between this preparatory sketch and the grand ceiling painting it anticipates, we can challenge conventional distinctions between 'high art' and the more workaday aspects of design. Both were essential to the rich artistic culture of the time.