France / Germany (Paris / Augsburg)

Design for a Pediment with Two Cartouches, Lions, and a Crown (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

2543

Created during the 18th century (circa 1720–1760), squarely within the Rococo (Late Baroque / Rocaille) period.

As a design sheet, this object functioned as a working drawing or presentation model for a carved stone or wood pediment intended for a civic building, palace gate, or monumental portal. Symbolically, the crowned blazon flanked by rampant lions expressed dynastic authority, royal patronage, or civic self-governance, while the flanking rocaille cartouches framed the composition with the playful decorative exuberance characteristic of the Rococo.