Design for a ceiling possibly at Thornhill House, Dorset

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Dominant colour

Design for a ceiling possibly at Thornhill House, Dorset is a work by James Thornhill, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: James Thornhill
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This is a drawing by James Thornhill. It’s a design for the corners of a painted ceiling, probably for a room in his own house in Dorset. Thornhill left notes on the sheet to explain the meaning of the images in each corner. The ceiling he painted is long gone, but an old engraving shows how it once looked. Check out another work at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The story of this work

Overview

The drawing, executed in red chalk with pen and ink and wash, depicts a design for the spandrels of a ceiling, likely intended for the drawing room at Thornhill House, Dorset. Thornhill annotated the sheet with explanations of the iconography in each corner. The completed ceiling painting has since been destroyed, though an engraving by C.M. Metz (E.1175-1886) documents the final design, which includes a central medallion featuring Minerva crowning a portrait of Thornhill.

Read the full account in the museum source.