Design for a Ceiling Painting with a Nuptial Allegory
The now almost forgotten Novelli was once an important artist in Venice. He painted many decorations in the city’s palaces. As an art theorist, he propagated a style that wanted to abolish the old disegno (design or drawing) versus colore (colour) rivalry. The drawing’s inscriptions make it clear that the representation was designed for a marriage. Centrally depicted are a man and a woman together holding a heart.