Design for a Funerary Monument

Giuseppe Galli-Bibiena specialized in temporary architectural settings that served as the backdrop to Habsburg imperial celebrations in Vienna. As the court’s chief theatrical designer, he was in charge of decorative settings for festivals, operas, and official occasions in the life of the ruling Hapsburg family—including funerals, as here. The tall and narrow architectural forms of these designs reflect the limited space of the imperial chapel at the Hofburg, for which they were intended. Still, it is uncertain whether they record actual monuments that were built for a specific occasion, or whether they were simply proposals that could be shown to patrons as the need arose. These and other engravings of architectural monuments and festival settings make up Galli-Bibiena’s magisterial Architectural and Perspective Designs… (Architetture e Prospettive…), an illustrated book dedicated to Emperor Charles VI.