Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
Rejecting the preference for the landscape and architecture of Italy, as seen in the work of many of his contemporaries, Domenico Quaglio portrayed the buildings of his native Germany. Here, Quaglio depicted a man, woman, and child who are dwarfed by the immense scale of a Gothic cathedral’s ruined arch, within which the figures appear. Overrun by vines and set within a dense forest, the architecture signifies the magnitude of God in the Christian faith and the smallness of mankind.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
149998
label
Outer Staircase of a Gothic Ruin
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
149998
contentType
drawing
title
Outer Staircase of a Gothic Ruin
description
Rejecting the preference for the landscape and architecture of Italy, as seen in the work of many of his contemporaries, Domenico Quaglio portrayed the buildings of his native Germany. Here, Quaglio depicted a man, woman, and child who are dwarfed by the immense scale of a Gothic cathedral’s ruined arch, within which the figures appear. Overrun by vines and set within a dense forest, the architecture signifies the magnitude of God in the Christian faith and the smallness of mankind.
date
1830
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79931950
creators
12740
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 24.1 x 16.8 cm (9 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.); Image: 23.2 x 15.2 cm (9 1/8 x 6 in.)
cul
Germany, 19th century
accession
1980.218
Source extras
tec
gray and brown wash and framing lines in pen and black ink
tombstone
Outer Staircase of a Gothic Ruin, 1830. Domenico Quaglio (German, 1787–1837). Gray and brown wash and framing lines in pen and black ink; sheet: 24.1 x 16.8 cm (9 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.); image: 23.2 x 15.2 cm (9 1/8 x 6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous gift in honor of Leona E. Prasse, 1980.218
supportMaterials
description
cream wove paper
watermarks
Whatman/Turkey Mill
collection
DR - German
inscriptions
inscription
signed, on verso, at lower right, in graphite: D. Quaglio f. in Decbr. 1830; inscribed, at lower left, in graphite: Domenico Quaglio d. F. [paraph: ey?] / 1786-1837; inscribed, at lower center, in graphite: Ansicht einer Ruine in / Meillerie Villaneuve des / gez. Dez. 1830; inscribed, at lower right, in graphite: Linken Ufer des Genfer see
didYouKnow
Gothic architecture, the type seen in this drawing, was associated with Germany based on a false assumption that a Germanic tribe, the Goths, had originated the style.
citations
citation
Trost, Brigitte. <em>Domenico Quaglio, 1787-1837: Monographie und Werkverzeichnis</em>. Munich: Prestel, 1973.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 138, no. 195b; Reproduced: p. 55, pl. VII
citation
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 195; Mentioned: p. 217, no. 228
catalogueRaisonne
Trost 195
creditline
Anonymous gift in honor of Leona E. Prasse
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:44:25.142000
sourceId
149998
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - German
med
gray and brown wash and framing lines in pen and black ink
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6d9cb1c857099ffe