Foreshortened or Trompe L'Oeil View of the Architecture Surrounding a Courtyard 1657 - 1743

Curator: This piece gives me the shivers, honestly. It’s like falling into someone else's dream of stone. Editor: Fitting then, as it is architecture seen through the dream-like lens of Baroque illusionism. This ink and pen drawing, attributed to Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, sometime between 1657 and 1743, presents a "Foreshortened or Trompe L'Oeil View of the Architecture Surrounding a Courtyard." Curator: "Trompe L'Oeil," trick of the eye indeed. It's as if the courtyard is tilting toward us, defying gravity. Makes me wonder about the mind that conceived it. A mind that saw beyond right angles and plumb lines. Editor: Bibiena and his family were stage designers and architects, celebrated for their theatrical scenography, so perspective was their playground. It is not enough to simply *suggest* space, here. The entire material existence of this perspective hinges on convincing the eye it's more than just ink on paper. Curator: And succeeds marvelously. Look at the detail—the play of light and shadow, the sheer audacity of those receding columns. It feels both monumental and fleeting, doesn’t it? Like catching a glimpse of a city that only exists in the moment you see it. The use of pen and ink reminds us about the craft, though. Editor: Craft and mathematics working together. These effects required meticulous planning and understanding of perspective, using geometry as another material in constructing these spatial fantasies. It’s not just lines on paper; it's about control over materials to shape perception. Curator: It’s the sheer artistry behind the calculation that grabs me. The controlled chaos. Like Bach fugues made of buildings. Editor: Or perhaps architecture as the ultimate commodity, something to be consumed visually and conceptually, blurring the lines between tangible and illusionistic space through pen, ink and skilled labor. Curator: Perhaps. Whatever it is, it certainly got my heart rate up. And maybe, just maybe, helped me see the world a little bit sideways. Editor: Yes, by pulling back the curtain on materiality, on process, on the labour that informs how we understand what is 'real'.