Keeper of a Private Notebook

photograph by Lev Frid

Charles Giraud, Princess Mathilde’s Conservatory in the Mansion on Rue de Courcelles, Paris, 1864, oil on panel.

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

David Rumsey Map Collection

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, 1657–1743, Design of a Perspective for a Stage Set with Courtyard and Triumphal Arch. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection: http://www.metmuseum.org

Ferdinando Galli Bibiena

"Ferdinando Galli Bibiena (1657–1743), born at Bologna, was the son of Giovanni Maria. He studied painting under Carlo Cignani, architecture under Giulio Troili (called Paradosso), and scene design under Giacomo Torelli. On Cignani’s recommendation he entered the service of the duke of Parma. His chief work at this period was the villa and garden of Colorno, but he soon established a reputation for scenic designs and worked for the theatre. In 1708 he was called to Barcelona to arrange the decorations in connection with the wedding festivities of the future Holy Roman emperor Charles VI. When this prince ascended the imperial throne, Ferdinando went to Vienna and was there employed on designs of scenery and decorations for festivities at the court and at the opera. On his return to Bologna in 1717 he was elected a member of the Clementine Academy. In 1731 he built the royal theatre of Mantua (burned in 1781). He produced several books, including L’architettura civile (1711; “Civil Architecture”), which was reissued under various titles, and Varie opere di prospettiva (1703–08; “Various Works of Perspective”), which were important for their descriptions of angled perspective, the Baroque period’s greatest innovation in staging."( via )

Because the Bibienas’ works in theatrical scenery were not executed in durable material and because their decorations for court functions were necessarily of a temporary character, little has survived. "

Portrait of the 'Mordaunt', Fourth Rate, built 1681, 46 guns, by Willem van de Velde, the Elder, circa 1683

Harold Altman

Harold Altman

California Revealed via Internet Archive

I was never gonna be who you wanted. Sooner or later, you were just gonna kill me. It’s just what you do.