METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: GALLERIA 507 -- Bedroom from the Sagredo Palace in Venice, ca. 1718

Speranza

Movement, theatricality, and a harmonious marriage of different materials—defining features of the early eighteenth-century Italian Baroque style—characterize the decoration of this room.

Twenty-nine winged angels, or putti, modeled in stucco (a mixture of plaster and glue or resin) seem poised to detach themselves from the walls and glide through the air, creating a joyful atmosphere.

The richly ornamented ceilings include the painting "Dawn" by Gaspare Diziani, and a dome surrounded by a stucco imitation of a canopy with cascading folds.

Silk fabric and wood panels carved with designs inspired by architecture and nature cover the walls.

The bed, not original to the room, exhibits a later, more curvaceous style.

Located on the piano nobile (second floor), such a grand bedroom suite might have served as an official reception room rather than sleeping quarters.

Less ornate bedchambers were situated in the more private upper floors of palaces.