[S. Barber] F. Zeffirelli. Costume design for the Met production of "Antony and Cleopatra", 1966, signed

[Samuel Barber] Franco Zeffirelli

Costume design for Octavius Caesar in the 1966 New York Metropolitan Opera House production of Antony and Cleopatra

executed in gouache, gold paint, and textiles on canvas, overall size 63 x 50.8cm, framed and glazed, SIGNED AND DATED BY THE ARTIST ("Zeffirelli / 66"), in pencil, manuscript caption ("Caesar Octavian") to paper label on back of frame, no place, 1966

This richly depicted costume design and the two preceding set designs (lots 6 and 7) together fully reflect Zeffirelli's lavish creative vision for Barber's opera. For a set design for Mozart's Don Giovanni, see lot 54. See also lots 290-291 in the following afternoon sale, Books and Manuscripts, Medieval to Modern (closing 13 December 2022).

LITERATURE

Cf. https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/264233. For an account of the production, see Barbara B. Heyman, Barber: the Composer and his Music (2020), passim