Domus Aurea, Volta Gialla, grotteschi, details (recto) Unidentified building, thermal window, elevation (verso) 1500 - 1560

This delicate sheet, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcases graphite on paper, with a drawing of grotteschi details from Domus Aurea, or "Golden House", and the elevation of an unidentified building on the verso. The term ‘grotteschi’ relates to the ornamentation that was popular in the 15th and 16th centuries, after the rediscovery of Nero's Domus Aurea in Rome. These decorative motifs, characterized by fantastical figures, intertwining foliage, and whimsical creatures, became a fashionable means of embellishing surfaces. While we don’t know the artist, the drawing underscores how essential drawing was to the building trades. Before CAD software, everything had to be painstakingly rendered by hand. The artist here demonstrates fluency with the visual language of classicism and expertise as a draughtsman. This was not merely an artistic endeavor, but a critical skill for communicating design ideas, and realizing the built environment. The drawing is also a record of labor, a testament to the craftsmanship required to translate artistic concepts into material form. It reminds us that the built environment is the result of human labor.