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Item Ships From: Madrid
Empire Style Table Lamp (No Shade). Bronze, Marble
Located in Madrid, ES
Empire style lamp (without shade). Patinated bronze.
marble base Table lamp elevated on a marble base, it is shaped like a vase with handles in the shape of simplified swan heads, fo...
Category
20th Century European Empire Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Antique Life-Size Stone Head
Located in Madrid, ES
Introduce a piece of history into your collection with this antique life-size stone head from the early 1900s. This impressive sculpture captures the essence of classical art, making it a standout piece for any decor.
Features:
Material: Crafted from high-quality stone, known for its durability and timeless appeal.
Design: This life-size head sculpture features intricate detailing and lifelike characteristics, reflecting the skilled craftsmanship of the early 20th century. Its realistic portrayal adds a touch of classical elegance to any setting.
Condition: The piece is in good condition, maintaining its original charm and detailed features over the years.
Dimensions:
Height: 34 cm (13.4 inches)
Width: 20 cm (7.9 inches)
Depth: 20 cm (7.9 inches)
Decorative Appeal:
This life-size stone head is more than just a decorative item; it is a piece of art that brings historical significance and classical beauty to any space. Perfect for display on a pedestal, shelf, or as a centerpiece in a room, it adds a sense of sophistication and artistic heritage to your home or office.
Why You'll Love It:
Owning this antique stone head...
Category
Early 1900s Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Stone
Pair of Contemporary Murano Glass Lamps with a Brass Structure, made in Italy
By L.A. Studio
Located in Madrid, ES
Pair of contemporary lamps designed by LA Studio. Structure made of brass with hand-carved antique Murano glass pieces. Handcrafted white lampshades.
Pair of contemporary lamps excl...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Brass
Modern Style Bronze Lamp
Located in Madrid, ES
Modernist lamp in patinated bronze.
No screen. No adapters.
A circular shape that is not completely closed forms the base of the piece, and its extension is what, after rotating it ...
Category
20th Century European Other Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bronze, Other
$138 / item
Large Vintage Mid-Century Spanish Ceramic Table Lamp, Vivid Red Glaze, Manises
Located in Madrid, ES
On the outskirts of Valencia, Spain is the small city of Manises, recognized for its ceramics traditions for centuries. During the 1950s and 60s, various companies here produced line...
Category
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Ceramic
Tritons defending Nereids. Oil on glass (reverse). Possibly Italian school...
Located in Madrid, ES
Tritons defending Nereids. Oil on glass (reverse). Possibly Italian school (perhaps Naples), late 16th 17th century.
It has some issues.
Framed glass plate with a painting, probabl...
Category
17th Century European Other Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Other
Armchair Mod. Wink Designed by Toshiyuki Kita for Cassina, 1980s
By Toshiyuki Kita
Located in Ibiza, Spain
Armchair - Chaise longue mod. Wink 111 designed by Toshiyuki Kita in the 80's and edited by Cassina. Structure made in steel and upholstered in cotton fabric with striped pattern in ...
Category
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Steel
$5,284 Sale Price
20% Off
Contemporary Mod Ekstrem Armchair Designed by Terje Ekstrom
By Terje Ekstrom
Located in Madrid, ES
Mod Ekstrem armchair designed by Terje Ekstrom. Structure made of steel covered with woolen knit foam, and upholstered with grey wool fabric.
Every i...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Norwegian Modern Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Metal
Extremly Rare Mexican Silver Miquelet-Lock Blunderbuss Belt Pistol Flintlock
Located in Madrid, ES
Extremly Rare South American Silver-Mounted Miquelet-Lock Blunderbuss Belt Pistol
Late 18th century, Mexican
With a roped silver band around the turned and belled muzzle, the forward sections polygonal and inlaid with silver fronds, octagonal breeches with silver foliage on the flats either side, a broad silver band at the rear, foliate engraved tangs, characteristic locks with fluted mount beneath the pan enclosing the steel-spring, full stocks inlaid with silver panels secured by silver pins and pierced and engraved with foliage inhabited by monsters, birds and a pair of rabits, the last forward of the trigger-guards, and studded with further silver pins.
The fore-ends en suite and each inlaid with a silver panel pierced and engraved as a double-headed eagle, foliate engraved silver side-plates each pierced for an iron belt hook...
Category
18th Century Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Sterling Silver
Monumental Furietti Centaurs bronze 160 cm
Located in Madrid, ES
Furietti Centaurs in Pair - Bronze Statues, reduction of the originals (known as the Older Centaur and the Younger Centaur, or the Older Centaur and the Younger Centaur when treated ...
Category
1950s Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bronze
18th Century German Baroque Cabinet
Located in Madrid, ES
An elegant German cabinet from the early 18th century, circa 1720, crafted from a combination of fine woods including walnut, olive, ebony, and cherry. This piece exemplifies the cra...
Category
1720s Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Fruitwood
Angelo Mangiarotti Mid-Century Modern Serie Eros Marble Italian Side Table
By Angelo Mangiarotti
Located in Madrid, ES
Arabescato marble side table designed by Angelo Mangiarotti. The table belong to the "Eros" series that he designed for Skipper in Italy in the 1970s. Original label.
Angelo Mangiarotti was born in Milan on 26th of February 1921.
He graduated in Architecture in 1948 at Politecnico di Milano. In 1953-1954 he works in the United States, participating also to the competition for Chicago "LOOP". While leaving abroad he knew Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and Konrad Wachsmann...
Category
1670s Italian Mid-Century Modern Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Marble
Elegant Pair of 1950s Italian Greyhound Statues in Green Patinated Bronze
Located in Madrid, ES
This sophisticated pair of Italian greyhound sculptures from the 1950s is crafted in green patinated bronze, showcasing the elegance and grace of these iconic dogs. The statues are i...
Category
1950s Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Pair of Hand-Carved Travertine Marble Sculptural Pedestals, Italy, 20th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Striking pair of large sculptural pedestals, hand-carved in Italian travertine marble, each representing a human figure supporting a platform or base. These expressive and bold carvi...
Category
1970s Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Marble
$23,073 Sale Price
20% Off
Set Of 2 Peaches Stools by Patricia Bustos de la Torre
Located in Geneve, CH
Set Of 2 Peaches Stools by Patricia Bustos de la Torre
Dimensions: D 38 x W 38 x H 84 cm.
Materials: Rattan, pink Portuguese marble, velvet and iron.
Ta...
Category
2010s Spanish Modern Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Marble, Iron
Impressive Spanish Silver Crown, hallmarked by Francisco Beltrán de la Cueva
Located in Madrid, ES
Impressive Spanish Silver Crown, hallmarked by Francisco Beltrán de la Cueva, Madrid, 1742
Important processional crown in Spanish silver, hallmarked by the silversmith Francisco Be...
Category
18th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Silver
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Black Ashwood Willow Italian Armchair
By Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Located in Madrid, ES
Armchair model "Willow" designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the "Willow Tea Room" in 1903 in Glasgow. Made of black lacquered ashwood structure and upholstered in leather.
In its original configuration, the high, semicircular backrest of this solid wood throne served as a divider between the entrance and the tea room behind it. Complex series of lines and shapes reflect the style of Mackintosh.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Leather, Ash
Leopard Print Velvet Cushion in Cotton with Double Tinsel Trim and Linen Back
Located in Madrid, ES
Leopard print velvet cushion in high quality cotton with double black tinsel trim and linen back with invisible zipper.
Every item LA Studio offers is checked by our team of 10 craf...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary European Mid-Century Modern Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Cotton, Linen, Velvet
Immaculate Conception with Peruvian silver crown, Spanish school, 18th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Immaculate Conception in polychrome and gilded wood with Peruvian silver crown, Spanish school, 18th century
A magnificent Baroque carving of the Immaculate Conception, crafted from carved, polychrome, and gilded wood, attributed to the 18th-century Spanish school. It depicts the Virgin in prayer on a cherub pedestal...
Category
18th Century Spanish Spanish Colonial Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Wood
Fireplace Plate with Picador, Bullfighting, Cast Iron, Spain, 20th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Fireplace plate with Picador. Molten iron, Spain, early 20th century
Fireplace background plate made of cast iron with a rectangular shape and decorated with reliefs on the front. The upper part presents a composition of leaves flanking a smooth shield, and is prolonged on the sides and the lower area thanks to a series of lines and more leaves with a classicist influence in the corners. The front shows a figurative fighting scene, with a picador (or pole vaulter...
Category
Early 20th Century Spanish Other Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Iron
Contemporary Pillow Pair in Velvet Tiger Mountain edited by Deda
Located in Madrid, ES
Cushions made of velvet and cotton fabric. Design edited by Dedar, Tiger Mountain. Finished with fringes and zip at the back.
Every item LA Studio offers is checked by our team of 1...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary European Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Cotton, Velvet
Walnut and Iron Chest, 17th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Rectangular chest with base and lid with moldings and iron fittings and corners in forge metal on a red cloth background made with stylized and simplif...
Category
17th Century European Baroque Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Iron
Les Arcs chairs by Charlotte Perriand
By Charlotte Perriand
Located in MADRID, ES
Les Arcs chairs were designed by Charlotte Perriand for the alpine resort of Les Arcs in the Tarentaise valley in the 1960s. Set of 4 chairs. Original saddle leather. Light patina on...
Category
1960s French Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Chrome
$7,096 / set
Mid-Century Modern Solid Wood and Colored Glass Italian Pair of Sideboards
By L.A. Studio
Located in Madrid, ES
Pair of sideboards with two folding doors made of solid wood structure and coated with colored glass. Details and handles and legs made of brass.
Production can last between 5 and 6...
Category
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Brass
20th Century Large Neoclassical Porcelain Urn with Ram’s Head Motifs.
Located in Madrid, ES
This large porcelain urn was produced by Bidasoa, one of Spain’s finest porcelain manufacturers, renowned for its high-quality mid-20th-century production. Inspired by classical Grec...
Category
Early 20th Century Spanish Neoclassical Revival Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED Indo-Portuguese sculpture from the 18th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED
Indo-Portuguese sculpture from the 18th Century
in ivor..... The figure is represented in agony, with cendal draped around the waist. Cross in rosewood wood ...
Category
Early 18th Century Portuguese Baroque Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Wood
Table Lamp, Patinated Bronze, Shade Not Included
Located in Madrid, ES
Patinated bronze lamp base. Screen not included
Lamp stand in the shape of a candlestick formed by a pedestal with a triangular base with legs and a grooved shaft, finished with leav...
Category
20th Century Unknown Other Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bronze, Other
Large 19th Century Cast Iron Garden Sculpture
Located in Madrid, ES
This magnificent garden sculpture, originating from France in the 19th century, stands as a testament to the craftsmanship and artistic fervor of the era. Crafted from cast iron with...
Category
1890s Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Iron
Beautiful 17th-century Mexican School - "Annunciation."
By Arte de Mexico
Located in Madrid, ES
17th-century Mexican School - "Annunciation."
Oil on canvas. 110 x 89 cm, framed 120 x 99 cm.
Framed.
This work comes from the city of Morelia, the monastery of the Capuchin Poor ...
Category
17th Century Mexican Spanish Colonial Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Paint
Crucified Christ, Sorrowful Crucifix. Carved and polychrome wood.
Located in Madrid, ES
Crucified Christ, Sorrowful Crucifix. Carved and polychrome wood. Possibly southern German school, 15th century.
Polychrome and gilded wood carving showing Christ with the Crown of Thorns, on the Cross, already deceased (eyes closed), with the usual INRI phylactery on the upper crossbar of the Latin cross, three nails (note the crossed feet) and a short, golden and polychrome purity cloth or perizonium. It is known, in German, as “Gabelkreuz” or “Gabelkruzifix” (“Sorrowful Crucifix” in Spanish) to a type of Gothic Crucified Christ that is especially expressive (prioritizing external suffering over other aspects) and that, normally, presents the cross in a of Y or ypsilon (alluding to the Tree of Life), created, apparently, thanks to the influence of the mysticism of the late 13th and early 14th centuries (Saint Brigid...
Category
15th Century and Earlier European Renaissance Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Other
"Bermuda" Chairs Designed by Carlos Miret for Amat, Spain, 1986
Located in Madrid, ES
The "Bermuda" chairs were designed by Carlos Miret and edited by Amat in 1986 in Spain, This Memphis-style tripod chair is composed of a black lacquered m...
Category
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Iron
$659 Sale Price / item
20% Off
19th-Century Bronze Bust of the Greek Poetess Sappho
Located in Madrid, ES
his sophisticated bronze bust depicts the ancient Greek poetess Sappho (620 B.C. - 550 B.C.), known for her lyrical poetry. Crafted in dark green patinated bronze with plaster eyes, ...
Category
1860s Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Large Nike Sculpture - 250 cm - Winged Victory
Located in Madrid, ES
We present to you an imposing garden sculpture representing Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, better known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace. This magnificent replica is made of ...
Category
1950s Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Cast Stone
Camaleonda Modular Sofa by Mario Bellini, Italy 70s, White Bouclé Reupholstered
By Mario Bellini
Located in Madrid, ES
Camaleonda modular sofa designed by Mario Bellini (1935) for C&B Italia in 1972. Composed of 4 large modular seats with backrest, 3 small modular seats with backrest, 1 small module without backrest and 1 shoe remover chair. White bouclé wool upholstery.
Measurements of large seats (5): W 96 x D 96 x H 40/65 cm.
Measures small seats...
Category
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Bouclé, Wood
Bronze Bust of Salvador Dalí Nº265/999 by Arno Breker 1975
By Arno Breker
Located in Madrid, ES
The name of the artist and the date, "Arno Breker 1974-75," are incised on Dali's neck, indicating the period during which Breker sculpted Dali from life. On the back of the neck, yo...
Category
1970s German Post-Modern Vintage Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Magnificent Victorian 19th Century Toilet Box
Located in Madrid, ES
19th Century toilet box.
Magnificent Victorian period toilet box, made of Mahogany veneer. Rectangular in shape, this kit includes original Crystal contain...
Category
19th Century English Late Victorian Antique Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Wood
Confidence, Calamine. France, circa 1900, After Grisard, Désiré
1872-¿
By Desire Grisard
Located in Madrid, ES
"Confidence". calamine. France, around 1900, following Grisard, Désiré (1872-¿).
With manufacturing stamp, titled and engraved name.
Calamine figure patinated in various shades t...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Other
Brutalist Style Hand-carved Solid Oak Wood and Glass Mirror Italian Bar Cabinet
Located in Madrid, ES
Exquisite Hand-Carved Oak Bar Cabinet with Glass Shelves
Enhance your home with the sophisticated charm of this hand-carved oak bar cabinet. Designed with two hinged doors, this piec...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Madrid - Furniture
Materials
Oak
Tapestry Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period 1738 at the Gobelins
By Aubusson Manufacture
Located in Madrid, ES
Tapestry from the Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period , made in 1738 at the Gobelins
One panel from a series of Gobelins tapestries depicting the History of Esther, illustrating Esther seated and attended by handmaidens, one washing her feet in golden basin, another fastening a bracelet, another offering a mirror, all observed by Mordecai, woven in the workshop of Michele Audran after a design by J. F. de Troy.
The Toilet of Esther c.1778-85.Royal Collection Trust-Queens Audience Chamber
Windsor Castle
The Sketches for the Esther Cycle by Jean-François de Troy (1736)
“and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mor’decai, ..., took for his own daughter.” (Est. 2:7)
A supple and undulating genius, both a flattering portraitist and a prolix history painter, as well as a brilliant genre painter, in a gallant or worldly vein, Jean-François de Troy (Paris, 1679 – Rome, 1752), solicited, although he had passed the threshold of old age, a new royal commission up to his ambitions. To obtain it, he submitted – successfully - for the approval of the Bâtiments du roi (administration), seven modelli painted in 1736 with his usual alacrity.
Inspired by one of the most novelistic texts of the Old Testament, the Book of Esther, these sketches in a rapid and virtuoso manner were transformed by the artist, between 1737 and 1740 into large cartoons intended to serve as models for the weavers of the Gobelins factory. Showing undeniable ease and skill in the composition in perfect harmony with the sensitivities of the times, the tapestry set met with great success.
The Story of Esther perfectly corresponded to the plan of the Bâtiments du roi to renew the repertoire of tapestry models used for the weavers of the royal factories while it also conformed to the tastes of Louis XV’s subjects for a fantastical Orient, the set for a dramatic tale in which splendour, love and death were combined. Indeed, no tapestry set was woven in France during the 18th century as often as that of Esther.
The series of modelli painted by de Troy during the year 1736 looks to the history of French painting and decoration under Louis XV as much as it does the history of the Gobelins. It probably counts among the most important rococo pictorial groups to have remained in private hands. First the Biblical source illustrated by De Troy which constitutes the base of one of the richest iconographical traditions of Western art will be considered. Then the circumstances and specific character of French civilisation during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV which contributed to making the theme of Esther a relevant subject, both attractive to contemporaries and remarkably in line with the sensitivities of the time will be elucidated.
An examination of the exceptional series of sketches united here, the cartoons and the tapestries that they anticipate as well as a study of their reception will close this essay. The Book of Esther: A scriptural source at the source of rich iconography.
The origin of the Esther tapestry set by Jean-François de Troy – origin and creation of a masterpiece
According to the evidence of one of the artist’s early biographers, the chevalier de Valory, author of a posthumous elegy of the master, read at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 6 February 1762, it was apparently due to early16 rivalry with François Lemoyne (1688-1737), his younger colleague who had precisely just been appointed First Painter to the King in 1736, that had encouraged François de Troy to seek a commission allowing him to show off his ease and his promptitude at the expense of a rival who was notoriously laborious: “M. De Troy, retaining some resentment of the kind of disadvantage which he believed to have suffered compared with his emulator looked to regain some territory by making use of the facility his rival did not possess.
Lemoyne was excessively long in the creation of his works,and M. De Troy of a rare celerity: consequently, with this particular talent, the latter offered to the court to make paintings appropriate to be executed at the Gobelins Factory; and it is to this circumstance that we owe the beautiful series of the Story of Esther, which would be sufficient alone to give him a great reputation.”17 Beyond the suspicion inspired by the topos, which still constitutes, more or less, a tale of rivalries between artists in ancient literature, there is probably some truth in what Valory reports although A.-J. Dezalier d’Argenville (who indicates rather spitefully that de Troy did not hesitate to “cut prices” to impose himself, benefitting from the productivity assured by the unlikely rapidity of his brush)18 proves to be more evasive: “As he looked to busy himself, he had offered to make the paintings that serve as models for the King’s tapestries cheaply: which did not please his colleagues.
He was given a choice of two tapestry series to be made and he took the Story of Esther and that of Jason”.19 Whether or not the choice was actually left to de Troy (which would appear rather casual on the royal administration’s part all the same), it seems likely that the artist, whose contemporaries extol his “fire”, as the faculty of invention was then called, must have ardently aspired to the possibility of using on a very large scale the “creative genius” with which Dezallier d’Argenville credits him. The decoration of the private apartments, the fashion for which Louis XV had promoted at Versailles and Fontainebleau, offered little opportunity to excel in this area. Other than painting for altarpieces, only tapestries could allow comparison with Lemoyne who had been granted – unfortunately for him – a major decoration: the enormous ceiling of the Hercules Room at Versailles. Favoured by the recent improvement in France’s financial situation, the revival of patronage offered de Troy a commission fitting for him, in a field in which, however, he had hardly any experience.
Anxious to renew the repertoire of models available to the Gobelins factory, the Duc d’Antin, surintendant des Bâtiments du roi from 1708 to 1736 followed by his successor, Philibert Orry comte de Vignory, gave him the task of producing seven large cartoons inspired by the Book of Esther corresponding to the brilliant sketches or modelli which de Troy had produced in one go, or almost (very few preparatory drawings can in fact be linked to the Esther cycle and all seem to be at the execution stage of the cartoons).20 Subjected to the approval of the Administration des Bâtiments according to the procedure in use for projects being planned for the Gobelins, sketches made rapidly during 1736 were approved and the project launched immediately. Thereupon came the news of François Lemoyne’s death, who, ground down by work and a victim of his private torment, committed suicide on 4 June 1737.
Against all expectations, de Troy did not replace his rival in the position of First Painter (which remained vacant until the appointment of Charles Coypel in January 1747), which would perhaps have made him too obviously the beneficiary of the drama. The awarding of the position of Director of the French Academy in Rome came to console him while he had already produced (or he was in the process of finishing), in Paris, three of the seven cartoons of the cycle (The Fainting of Esther finished in 1737 and the Toilet and Coronation of Esther, both finished in 1738).
De Troy, we can see, did not follow the order of the narrative but began with the subjects which apparently offered the least difficulty because he had already depicted them, or because they fall into a strong pictorial tradition (such is the case especially for the Fainting of Esther). He had hardly settled at the Palazzo Mancini in August 1738, when his first task which awaited the new director of the French Academy naturally consisted of honouring the royal commission and finishing without delay the final cartoons of the Story of Esther after the sketches he must have taken with him. As prompt as ever, de Troy discharged himself of the execution of the four remaining cartoons in only two years, by beginning with the largest format which allowed him to strike the imagination and to impose himself as soon as he arrived on the Roman stage: the Triumph of Mor’decai which was finished in 1739 (like Esther’s Banquet).
The following year, the Mor’decai's Disdain and The Sentencing of Haman were brought to an end in the same Neo-Venetian style, obviously tributary to Veronese with its choice of “open” monumental architecture which is characteristic of the entire cycle.21 The series, it should be noted, was almost augmented with some additional scenes in the mid 1740s. Indeed, the first tapestry set finished at the Gobelins in 1744 proved to be unsuitable for the arrangement of the Dauphine’s apartments at Versailles for which it had been intended to decorate the walls the following year (cf infra). Informed of this, de Troy, considering that the story of Esther offered “several good subjects,” immediately offered to illustrate one or new subject among those “which could appear to be the most interesting”.
The directeur des Bâtiments Orry, who managed the State’s accounts, obviously judged it less costly to have one of the tapestries widened to fill in the end of the Dauphine’s bedroom,22 which has probably deprived us of very original compositions, because de Troy had already illustrated the most famous themes, those that benefitted from a strongly established iconographical tradition and from which it was not easy to deviate
The Tapestry Set of the Story of Esther
Placed on the tapestry looms of the Gobelins at the end of the 1730s in Michel Audran’s workshop, the cycle created by de Troy aroused true infatuation. The few hundred tapestries made between 1738 and 1797 – all in high-warp tapestry and woven in wool and silk except for four in low-warp made in Neilson’s workshop – show the impressive success of a tapestry set that was without any doubt the most frequently woven of the 18th century in France.
29 Only three cartoons had been delivered by de Troy in 1738 when the first tapestry set was begun by Audran under the expert eye of Jean-Baptiste Oudry to whom the Directeur général des bâtiments, Philibert Orry had assigned the (weekly) supervision of the weaving. During the summer of 1738, the piece of the Fainting of Esther, which Oudry judged to be admirable, was finished.
During the winter of 1742, Oudry informed Orry that about two ells of the Triumph of Mor’decai had been made “with no faults”,that the Coronation of Esther was finished and that the Esther at her Toilet “a very gracious tapestry” was “a little over half” finished. Exhibited at Versailles in 1743, these two last pieces were admired by Louis XV and the Court.
On 3 December 1744, the set of seven tapestries was finally delivered to the Garde Meuble. It was intended, the honour was not slight, to decorate the apartments of the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain whose marriage to the young Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand had been fixed for the following year (it took place on 23 February 1745). Apparently it was thought that the theme of Esther the biblical heroine and wife of a foreign sovereign was appropriate for the apartments of the Spanish Dauphine.
As early as the month of March, the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel informed de Troy that her grand cabinet was decorated with the “Esther tapestry set” specifying however that “for lack of two small or one large piece, we have not been able to decorate the end of the room”. This difficulty led immediately to the Banquet episode being woven a second time in two parts (they were delivered to the Garde-Meuble on 30 December 1746) to garnish the panels on each side of the bed of the Dauphine who would hardly enjoy them (she died on 22 July 1746 and the decoration was installed for the new Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony).
The appearance of the set’s remarkable border, which imitated a richly sculpted wooden frame, should be mentioned. Conceived in 1738 by the ornamentalist Pierre Josse-Perrot and used in the later weavings until 1768, it tended to reinforce the resolutely painterly appearance of the tapestry set which, in this regard, pushed the art of tapestry as far as its ultimate mimetic possibilities. With the exception of Mor’decai's Disdain which had been removed earlier, the “editio princeps” of the story of Esther (from then on in nine pieces) remained at Versailles until the Revolution. Of the eight surviving tapestries, four are at the chateau of Compiègne and four belong today to the Mobilier National. No less than seven tapestry sets reputed to be complete (one of them in fact only had six tapestries) would be produced officially at the Gobelins up to 1772.
Literature:
1- The Œuvres mêlées of an emulator of Racine, the Abbé Augustin NADAL thus include an Esther. Divertissement spiritual which is exactly contemporary with Jean François de Troy’s cycle since it was performed in 1735 and published in Paris three years later.
2-Le Siècle de Louis XIV, 1751, 1785 ed., p. 96-97 for French ed.
3- Lemoyne and de Troy had been obliged to share the First Prize in the competition organised in 1727 between the most prominent history painters of the Académie Royale.
4- Mémoires…, pub. L. DUSSIEUX et al., 1854, II, p.265.
5-The fact that de Troy, at the risk of falling out with his colleagues, did not hesitate to make use of prices in order to convince the new directeur des Bâtiments Philibert Orry, is confirmed by Mariette who adds tersely “it caused much shouting” (pub. 1851-1860, II, p. 103).
6- Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres…, ed. 1762, IV, p. 368-369 20 Early comments on the painter are inclined to present him as a kind of “pure painter”, doing without the medium of drawing, a few intermediary studies between the Esther sketches and the large cartoons at the Louvre nevertheless show that de Troy used red chalk (see in the catalogue, the notice for the Meal of Esther and Ahasuerus under the entry drawing) to change one or other figure.
7-C. GASTINEL-COURAL (cat. exp. PARIS, 1985, p. 9-13) as well as the article by J. VITTET, exh. cat. LA ROCHE-GUYON, 2001, p. 51-55.
8-The Hermitage in St. Petersburg conserves five tapestries of these two royal gifts whose provenance still awaits elucidation (as far as we are aware). In 1766, the Grand Marshal of Russia, Count Razumovski (or Razamowski), acquired the Fainting and the Banquet extracted from the sixth weaving (J. VITTET, 2001, p. 53).
9- Lettres écrites de Suisse, d’Italie…,quoted by J. VITTET, op. cit., p. 54.
10-The tapestry set remained in the hands of a branch of the Hapsburg-Lorraine family until 1933 (ibid. P. 54).
11-Quoted by Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, p. 97, note 269.
12-Y. CANTAREL-BESSON, 1992, p. 241.
Catalogue
The Esther at her Toilet
Oil on canvas, 57 x 51 cm Provenance: Painted in 1736 at the same time as the six other modelli of the Story of Esther intended to be presented, for approval, to the direction des Bâtiments du Roi; perhaps identifiable among a lot of sketches by Jean-François de Troy in the post mortem inventory of the amateur, historian and critic Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786) drawn up on 13 January 1786 and following days (A.N. T 978, n° 30) then in the sale of the property of the deceased, Paris, 12 June 1786, n° 33; Paris, François Marcille Collection (who owned a series of six sketches from which the Triumph of Mor’decai was missing, see infra); Paris, Marcille Sale, Hôtel Drouot, 12-13 January 1857, n° 36; Asnières, Mme de Chavanne de Palmassy ( ?) collection; Paris, Galerie Cailleux; Paris, Humbert de Wendel collection (acquired from the Galerie Cailleux in 1928); by inheritance in the same family; Paris, Sotheby’s, 23 June 2011, n° 61. In order not to add unnecessarily to the technical commentary on each work, the catalogue raisonné by Chr. Leribault which contains a substantial bibliography on the series should be referred to. The other bibliographical references only concern the publications and exhibitions to have appeared and been presented more recently. Bibliography and Exhibitions: Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, n° P. 247 (repr.); E. LIMARDO DATURI, 2004, p. 28; Exh. cat. NANTES, 2011, p. 138, n° 34, referred to in note 1; Sotheby’s catalogue, Tableaux anciens et du XIXe siècle, 23 June 2011, n° 61 (repr.).
Related Works:
Tapestry cartoon: The cartoon (oil on canvas, 329 x 320 cm), the third made by the artist in Paris after the sketches had been approved by the direction des Bâtiments, is in the Louvre (Inv. 8315). It previously bore the painter’s signature and the date 1738 (inscriptions which are found on the tapestries). The royal administration paid 1600 livres for it on 21 June 1738 and it was exhibited at the Salon in the year of its creation.
Summary Biography
1679 (27 January): Baptism in Paris (Parish of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet) of Jean-François de Troy, son of the painter François de Troy and Jeanne Cotelle, sister of the painter Jean II Cotelle.
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1698-1708: First trip to Italy. Is obliged to leave Rome in January 1711 after a tempestuous affair (a duel?), de Troy extends the traditional Roman experience as a pensionnaire at the Académie de France by also visiting Tuscany where he stays for a long time, Venice (his art in face has a strongly Venetian character) and Genoa.
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1710: First royal commission, paid for on 10 May (a sketch representing “the Promotion of the Order of the Holy Spirit” for the tapestry series of the History of the King).
1716: Jean-François de Troy is elected Assistant Professor at the Academy.
1720: He is appointed Professor.
1723: The artist creates the double portrait of Louis XV...
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