Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy

For nearly a century, members of three generations of the Bibiena family were the
most highly sought theater designers in Europe. Their elaborate stage designs were
used for operas, festivals, and courtly performances across Europe: from their native
Italy to cites as far afi eld as Vienna, Prague, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, and Lisbon.
Beyond these performances, the distinctive Bibiena style survives through their
remarkable drawings.
Architecture, Theater, and Fantasy marks the promised gift to the Morgan Library &
Museum of a group of Bibiena drawings from the collection of Jules Fisher, the Tony
Award-winning lighting designer, and commemorates an exhibition of these works, the
fi rst in the United States in over thirty years to celebrate these talented draftsmen. These
drawings demonstrate the range of the Bibienas’ output, from energetic sketches to
highly fi nished watercolors. With representations of imagined palace interiors and lavish
illusionistic architecture, this group of drawings highlights the visual splendor of the
Baroque stage.
The catalogue opens with Diane Kelder’s introductory essay about the Bibiena family.
Laurel Peterson then discusses the Bibienas as draftsmen, underscoring the drawings
from the Fisher collection. Arnold Aronson, in turn, explores the family’s contribution
to the theater, setting them within a history of European stage design and explaining
the signifi cance of the dynamic angled perspective of their scena per angolo sets. John
Marciari’s essay considers the Fisher gift among the many Bibiena drawings already at
the Morgan, mainly from the Oenslager collection, and looks at the collecting of Bibiena
drawings more generally. Finally, Diane Kelder’s checklist off ers information regarding the
attribution and provenance of the works in the exhibition.