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Source Description
A scenic designer for the Paris Opera, Cicéri created this decoration for a performance celebrating the birthday of Emperor Napoleon’s brother, Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia, a vassal state of territories taken from Prussia and its allies. Antoine-André Bruguière, named in the inscription as the commissioner of the decoration, was Westphalia’s secretary of the ministry of war and the superintendent of theaters in Kassel, the state’s capital city. The title of the special performance is unknown, but the triumphal arch, Corinthian columns topped with vases, and classical statues all suggest a Roman theme.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
166619
label
Decoration Executed for the Birthday of His Majesty the King of Westphalia
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
166619
contentType
drawing
title
Decoration Executed for the Birthday of His Majesty the King of Westphalia
description
A scenic designer for the Paris Opera, Cicéri created this decoration for a performance celebrating the birthday of Emperor Napoleon’s brother, Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia, a vassal state of territories taken from Prussia and its allies. Antoine-André Bruguière, named in the inscription as the commissioner of the decoration, was Westphalia’s secretary of the ministry of war and the superintendent of theaters in Kassel, the state’s capital city. The title of the special performance is unknown, but the triumphal arch, Corinthian columns topped with vases, and classical statues all suggest a Roman theme.
date
1811
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79997115
creators
38847
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 32 x 42.3 cm (12 5/8 x 16 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 44 x 53.2 cm (17 5/16 x 20 15/16 in.)
cul
France, 19th century
accession
2008.341
Source extras
tec
Pen and black ink and watercolor with graphite; heightened with white gouache on off-white wove paper
tombstone
Decoration Executed for the Birthday of His Majesty the King of Westphalia, 1811. Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri (French, 1782–1868). Pen and black ink and watercolor with graphite; heightened with white gouache on off-white wove paper; sheet: 32 x 42.3 cm (12 5/8 x 16 5/8 in.); secondary support: 44 x 53.2 cm (17 5/16 x 20 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin, 2008.341
supportMaterials
description
cream wove paper, hinged to decorative multi-ply face mount
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
verso, center right, in graphite: 1930; secondary support, lower center, in graphite (under primary support): Bas; lower center, in brown ink: décoration Exécutée pour l'anniversaire de la naissance de S. M. le Roi de Wesphalie, / Ordonnée par Monsieur bruguière Surintendant des théatres. / Dessin exécuté au théâtre de Cassel en 1811, par cicéri, Ier ["er" underlined] peintre de l'Opéra.
citations
citation
Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. <em>French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin</em>. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001.
page_number
Referenced: cat. no. 25, p. 60-61, Reproduced: 61
creditline
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:36:15.950000
sourceId
166619
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
Pen and black ink and watercolor with graphite; heightened with white gouache on off-white wove paper
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
d9aeb0a5549a65c6