Design for the façade of a palace

The son of the papal silversmith Luigi Valadier, Giuseppe found success in his father’s workshop and in numerous architectural projects, as the famed restorer of the Arch of Titus and of the Milvian Bridge in Rome. Imagining the baroque entrance of a sumptuous palace, framed by obelisks and set into a neoclassical façade, the present sketch is likely a design for an ephemeral portal and reveals Valadier’s architectural talent and ingenuity. We thank Alvar González-Palacios for confirming the attribution to the artist based on a digital photograph.