The important fresco painter and founder of the Mainz Art Academy Joseph Ignaz Appiani (1706 - 1785) up to now has been little known as a draughtsman. And there are considerable gaps in his biography. However, in spring 2022 with the graphic art exhibition ‘An Appiani Adventure‘ the Wallraf will finally shine light into this darkness and invite visitors on a search for clues of an art historical nature. Recently, within the Cologne Museum’s graphic collection of c. 70,000 sheets, experts discovered an important body of work by Appiani that had until then been attributed to other artists. With this previously unknown treasure the Wallraf will for the first time pay extensive tribute to the Rococo artist as a draughtsman.