Night

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Night

1829-1838

Eugen Eduard Schäffer (German, 1802–1871) Finished by Caspar Heinrich Merz (Swiss (active Germany), 1806–1875) After a fresco cartoon of c. 1820-26 by Peter von Cornelius (German, 1783–1867) Published by Bibliographisches Institut, Hildburghausen

The art-loving king Ludwig I of Bavaria awarded Peter von Cornelius the commission to design the frescos for the galleries of the Glyptothek, Munich’s new sculpture museum for Greek and Roman classical antiquities. This engraving of Night reproduces one of Cornelius’s four triangular spandrels in the vaulted ceiling of the Room of the Gods (Göttersaal), each representing one of the four times of day. The Latin text engraved in the upper corners describes the central panel: Nox per coelum transvehitur / Sedente utrimque eius sobole (Night rides across the sky / with her offspring seated on either side).

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Object Details

Titles:

Night
A Segment of the Ceiling Fresco in the Hall of the Gods in the Glyptothek in Munich

Date:

1829-1838

Artists:

Medium:

Etching and engraving

Dimensions:

Plate: 18 13/16 x 31 15/16 inches (47.8 x 81.1 cm) Sheet: 25 1/16 x 35 13/16 inches (63.7 x 91 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

The Muriel and Philip Berman Gift, acquired from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with funds contributed by Muriel and Philip Berman, gifts (by exchange) of Lisa Norris Elkins, Bryant W. Langston, Samuel S. White 3rd and Vera White, with additional funds contributed by John Howard McFadden, Jr., Thomas Skelton Harrison, and the Philip H. and A.S.W. Rosenbach Foundation

Accession Number:

1985-52-40872

Geography:

Made in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany, Europe

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