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Brutalist Style Hand-carved Oak 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

Materials

Oak

Brutalist Style Sideboard Made of Wood and Siena Marble, Italy
Located in Ibiza, Spain
Wooden sideboards with two hinged doors, designed for both functionality and elegance. The top and base are crafted from premium Siena marble, providing durability and a sophisticate...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Madrid

Materials

Siena Marble

North African Sword (Nimcha), Morocco, Early 19th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
North African Sword (Nimcha), Morocco, Early 19th Century This North African sword, known as a "Nimcha," is a remarkable piece originating from Morocco, dating back to the early 19th...
Category

Late 19th Century Antique Madrid

Materials

Wrought Iron

PORTUGUESE SECRETARY 19th Century in Rosewood
Located in Madrid, ES
SECRETARY Portuguese 19th Century in rosewood and other woods. Twisted and shaky, front with eight drawers and one drawer, sides and padded back. Brass hardware. Dim.: 80 x 140 x 75...
Category

19th Century Portuguese Renaissance Antique Madrid

Materials

Wood

Last Supper. Oil on panel. Castilian School, 16th century.
Located in Madrid, ES
Last Supper. Oil on panel. Castilian School, 16th century. It has faults. An oil on panel painting depicting a figurative image against a neutral background, with a checkered tile...
Category

16th Century Spanish Renaissance Antique Madrid

Materials

Other

PORTUGUESE D. JOSÉ HIGH-BACKED ARMCHAIR 18th Century
By Europa
Located in Madrid, ES
D. JOSÉ HIGH-BACKED ARMCHAIR 18th Century Portuguese in sucupira wood with carvings, backrest and seat in embossed leather. Period defects It was never restored. Dim.: 139 x 55 x 50 cm
Category

18th Century Portuguese Renaissance Antique Madrid

Materials

Wood

Important Spanish Cabinet, 17th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Important Spanish Cabinet 17th century in blackened wood and tortoiseshell veneer. It opens with eight drawers framing a central door, surrounded by two columns. Richly decorated w...
Category

17th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Madrid

Materials

Bronze

Set Mod. Togo Designed By Michel Ducaroy For Ligne Roset
By Michel Ducaroy, Ligne Roset
Located in Madrid, ES
Set mod. Togo designed by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset. Reupholstered in yellow leather. France 70's. Dimensions: W265 x D 190 x H 35 / 70 cm Double armchair size: W 120 x D 100 ...
Category

1970s French Modern Vintage Madrid

Materials

Leather

Louis XVI Settee or Sofa, Golden Wood, 19th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Louis XVI style sofa. Golden wood. Upholstery to restore or replace. Sofa on turned stipe legs and waist with dice with flowers, repeating the decoration of the legs in columns on ...
Category

19th Century European Louis XVI Antique Madrid

Materials

Other

IGI Certified 0.45ct Natural Diamond Three-Stone 18K White Gold Engagement gift
Located in Sant Josep de sa Talaia, IB
This three-stone ring features a total of 0.45 carats in natural diamonds. The center diamond is a round brilliant cut, measuring 4.45 x 4.45 x 2.70 mm, with a carat weight of 0.35 c...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Contemporary Madrid

Materials

Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold

Pair of Decorative Horses – 1950s
Located in Madrid, ES
Charming and eye-catching pair of decorative horses from the 1950s, finely crafted in solid wood and embellished with copper fittings and mother-of-pearl inlays. These pieces reflec...
Category

Mid-20th Century Madrid

Materials

Fruitwood

Pre-Columbian ceramics jar– Tiahuanaco Culture
Located in Madrid, ES
"Pre-Columbian Ceramics – Tiahuanaco Culture" Material: Ceramic Origin: Southern Sierra of Peru, Lake Titicaca Plateau Period: Boom Age (1 AD – 800 AD) Dimensions: 20 cm high x 16 cm...
Category

15th Century and Earlier South American Tribal Antique Madrid

Materials

Ceramic

Pair of 20th Century Neoclassical Hand Painted One Drawer Side Tables
Located in Madrid, ES
Beautiful pair of hand painted bedside tables, with beatiful neocassical desing painted in grey, green and giltwood,the top, as well as a sh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Neoclassical Revival Madrid

Materials

Fruitwood, Giltwood

Art Deco Style Wood and Leaded Glass Folding Screen
By Poliarte
Located in Madrid, ES
Beautiful Art Deco style wooden folding screen / room divider made with leaded glass and with ornaments shaped as birds of paradise. Produced in Verona, Italy by Poliarte in the 1970...
Category

20th Century Italian Art Deco Madrid

Materials

Glass, Wood

Art Deco 0.60ct Diamonds & 1 ct Natural Sapphire 18k gold Ring
Located in MADRID, ES
A stunning Art Deco ring from 1935, crafted in 18k gold and featuring brilliant-cut diamonds and a natural sapphire, perfect for collectors or those who appreciate vintage elegance. ...
Category

1930s Unknown Art Deco Vintage Madrid

Materials

Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold

French Oval Dining Table with Carrara Marble Top and Bamboo Brass Bases
Located in Madrid, ES
Elegant French dining table featuring an oval Carrara marble top resting on two handcrafted semicircular bases made of bamboo reeds with brass detailing. The marble top showcases a f...
Category

1980s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid

Materials

Marble, Brass

Seats in Walnut and Embossed Leather, 19th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Seats in walnut and embossed leather, 19th century. Set of six chairs and two matching armchairs, made of walnut and with seat and back in embossed leather (some leathers require res...
Category

19th Century Spanish Baroque Revival Antique Madrid

Materials

Leather, Walnut

Untitled
Located in Madrid, ES
MANUEL SALINAS Spanish, 1940 - 2021 UNTITLED signed "Salinas" (lower right) mixed media on paper on cardboard 19-3/4 x 27-1/2 inches (50 x 70 cm.) framed: 26-3/4 x 34-5/8 inches (68...
Category

2010s Abstract Madrid

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Cardboard

Modern Handwoven Jute Carpet Rug in Black Pink Green White Geometric
Located in Madrid, ES
This jute rug has been ethically hand stitched in the finest jute yarns by artisans in India, using a traditional weaving technique of this area. As its handwoven in natural fibre ya...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Madrid

Materials

Jute

Elegant 19th-Century Italian Round Center Table with Carrara Marble Top
Located in Madrid, ES
This exquisite 19th-century Italian center table is a stunning example of fine craftsmanship and timeless elegance. The round table features a beautifully carved wooden base, partial...
Category

1870s Antique Madrid

Materials

Fruitwood

FOUR-SEATER CHAIR Portuguese, from the 18th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
FOUR-SEATER CHAIR Portuguese, from the 18th Century in carved chestnut wood, decorated with plant motifs. Small defects Dim.: 141 x 181 x 181 cm good conditions
Category

18th Century Portuguese Baroque Antique Madrid

Materials

Wood

1950 Mid Century Mathieu Mategot Perforated Metal and Brass Table Lamp
By Mathieu Matégot
Located in Madrid, ES
Table lamp from the 50s designed by Mathieu Mategot, in lacquered metal and gilded brass, three lampshades in perforated metal and in off-white color, it retains all its original ele...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Madrid

Materials

Metal, Brass

CONRAD MARCA-RELLI Limited ed. Etching & Aquatint American Modern, Contemporary
By Conrad Marca-Relli 1
Located in Madrid, Madrid
Conrad Marca Relli - Composition V Date of creation: 1977 Medium: Etching and aquatint on Gvarro paper Edition: 75 + AP + HC Size: 56 x 76 cm Condition: In very good conditions and n...
Category

1970s Modern Madrid

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

IMPORTANT FEMALE FIGURE WITH SWING HEAD Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period (1723-1735
Located in Madrid, ES
IMPORTANT FEMALE FIGURE WITH SWING HEAD Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period (1723-1735) In export china, Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period (1723-1735) with articulated head, polychrome and gi...
Category

Mid-18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Madrid

Materials

Porcelain

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

Materials

Sterling Silver

Rare Gramophone Made for the Gramophone Exhibition in Seville in 1925
Located in Madrid, ES
A very unique and rare gramophone made by a Seville jewller for the Gramophone Exhibition in Seville in 1925 in wich was awarded with a silver medal.It was...
Category

20th Century Spanish Islamic Madrid

Materials

Silver

Set of Six Afra and Tobia Scarpa Bamboo and Rattan Chairs
By Afra & Tobia Scarpa, B&B Italia
Located in Madrid, ES
Six chairs, model Basilian, designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa and manufactured by B&B Maxalto in the 1970s. The structure of these square chairs is made of dark brown painted bamboo ...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Madrid

Materials

Bamboo

Large 19th-Century Spanish Bed in Exotic Wood with Marquetry and Gilded Details
Located in Madrid, ES
This grand Spanish bed from the early 19th century is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, blending exotic and fruitwood with intricate marquetry and gilded details. The frame features ex...
Category

1810s Antique Madrid

Materials

Fruitwood

Large Water Fountain in Ceramic Mineral Finish
Located in Madrid, ES
Water fountain in hand painted ceramic. Decorative ceramic fountain antique finish.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Madrid

Materials

Ceramic

Art Deco Diamond and Sapphire Platinum Earrings
Located in MADRID, ES
These Art Deco-style earrings are crafted in platinum 950 and feature diamonds and sapphires. They have a combined weight of 4.30 grams. The earrings are adorned with 2 old-cut dia...
Category

1930s Unknown Art Deco Vintage Madrid

Materials

Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum

"Pietra Dura" Tabletop, Marble and Hardstones", circa Late 20th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Circular marble board and hard stones. "Flower". Inspired by Italian models of the XVI-XVII centuries. A flower surrounded by vegetal scrolls is presented as the main motif in the ce...
Category

Late 20th Century European Modern Madrid

Materials

Marble

17th Century Sterling Silver Reliquary
Located in Madrid, ES
A refined and devotional 17th-century sterling silver reliquary featuring a delicate reverse glass painting of the Virgin Mary. This exqui...
Category

17th Century Baroque Antique Madrid

Materials

Silver

Mid-Century Modern Solid Wooden Desk Designed by Arne Vodder Boomerang
By Arne Vodder
Located in Ibiza, Spain
The Boomerang desk, designed by Arne Vodder in Denmark during the 1960s, showcases a solid teak wood structure adorned with brass details on the legs. This iconic piece features thre...
Category

1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Madrid

Materials

Brass

Magnificent Italian Torso Carrara Marble, Early 20th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Magnificent Italian Torso Carrara Marble Early 20th Century H: 48cm The height is including the base Good conditions.
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Modern Madrid

Materials

Carrara Marble

18th Century Spanish Virgin Mary of Immaculate Conception, Handcrafted Sculpture
Located in Madrid, ES
Completely hand-crafted in 18th century Spain, this sculpture of the Virgin stands 1.5 meters / 5 feet tall and was most certainly created for devotional purposes, to be displayed in a church or chapel. Besides its impressive size this sculpture is an excellent, museum-quality example of the Spanish “Estofado” polychrome technique, developed during the Gothic period to imitate rich brocade fabrics. The finely carved “fabric” areas of the sculpture would be first covered in gesso, and then a layer of gold leaf would be applied. The gold leaf would then be painted over with various colors of tempera paints. Once dry, the painted surface would be incised or scratched away in patterns, revealing the gold beneath. The sculpture was professionally restored in 2022 by a firm that is often hired by the Spanish government to work on historic building interiors and museum pieces. The virgin was carefully cleaned, repaired and its condition stabilized. A complete and fully-illustrated restoration report will be included with purchase. Often confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself was conceived “immaculately” without original sin has been variously defended and debated within the Catholic Church since the pre-Middle Ages. For centuries, artists struggled to create an acceptable visual representation of this highly abstract concept, in part taking inspiration from the Book of Revelation and other scriptural sources. We see the Virgin standing on a half moon (biblically inspired, though also an ancient symbol of chastity) with her long natural hair loose down her back, another indication of purity. Both her white tunic and flowing blue mantle...
Category

18th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Madrid

Materials

Silver, Gold Leaf

Large 4 Seasons Garden Sculptures - 230 cm
Located in Madrid, ES
Large 4 Seasons Garden Sculptures - 230 cm Transform your garden with this magnificent set of four cast iron sculptures, each embodying one of the four seasons in a classic and timel...
Category

1970s Italian Greco Roman Vintage Madrid

Materials

Iron

Italian Consoles 70's
Located in MADRID, ES
Pair of rosewood consoles with lacquered doors and circular handles. Italy, 1970s.
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Madrid

Materials

Wood

Large Sculpture by Frederic Remington
Located in Madrid, ES
Bronze sculpture signed: Frederic Remington from the 1950s. It is in very good condition. Measures: 104 cm height.
Category

1950s Vintage Madrid

Materials

Bronze

Small Swedish Blue Wardrobe
Located in MADRID, ES
Small Swedish cupboard with green patinated paint.
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Madrid

Materials

Wood

Huge Red Coral Necklace
Located in Madrid, ES
Huge Red Coral Necklace Huge polished red coral beads complete this fascinating 67cm long necklace. The largest red coral bead is: 35 x 34 mm .436 grams in weight
Category

1940s Vintage Madrid

Materials

Coral

Huge Red Coral Necklace
Huge Red Coral Necklace
$4,265 Sale Price
20% Off
Helge Vestergaard-Jensen Light Grey Painted Wood Sideboard
By Helge Vestergaard-Jensen, Peder Pedersen
Located in Madrid, ES
Elegant sideboard designed by Helge Vestergaard-Jensen circa 1955 and produced by master cabinetmaker Peder Pedersen. Made of veneered wood, unoriginal light grey color paint of late...
Category

Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Madrid

Materials

Wood

Huge Red Coral Necklace
Located in Madrid, ES
Huge Red Coral Necklace Huge polished red coral beads complete this fascinating 60cm long necklace. The largest red coral bead is: 25 x 15 mm .550 grams in weight
Category

1940s Vintage Madrid

Materials

Coral

Huge Red Coral Necklace
Huge Red Coral Necklace
$5,222 Sale Price
20% Off
Italian School "Apostle" 17th Century
Located in Madrid, ES
Italian School "Apostle" 17th Century Oil on oak wood Carved and gilded wooden frame. Small defects. Dim.: 44 x 58 cm good conditions
Category

17th Century Italian Baroque Antique Madrid

Materials

Paint

Round walnut dining table in the style of Afra and Tobia Scarpa, Italy, 1970
Located in Madrid, ES
Round dining table in the style of Afra and Tobia Scarpa, handcrafted from walnut plywood. The base is characterised by its cross-shaped structure, which is finished at the top with ...
Category

1970s Italian Modern Vintage Madrid

Materials

Walnut

Vase Mod. Amazonia Designed By Gaetano Pesce, Italy
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Madrid, ES
Contemporary vase designed by Gaetano Pesce in 1995 and edited by Fish design. Made of colored soft resin. Unique piece. Italy Measurements: Diameter 22cm x H 36cm Bibliography ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Madrid

Materials

Resin

Fantastic After Carl Faberge Egg "Mansion at MGM Grand"
Located in Madrid, ES
Fantastic After Carl FABERGE egg "The Mansion at MGM Grand" Yellow enamelled egg, gilt bronze frame resting on a tripod foot, covered with palmet...
Category

20th Century French Modern Madrid

Materials

Malachite, Bronze

M420 (Abstract Print)
By Jesús Perea
Located in London, GB
M420 (Abstract Print) Digital creation, printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag de 308 gr - Unframed. Fluctuating between illustration and expressionism, connecting the geometric and biom...
Category

2010s Abstract Madrid

Materials

Paper, Digital

Gilt bronze pax board, Pietà. 16th-17th centuries, after Michelangelo Buonarroti
Located in Madrid, ES
Peacekeeper, Mercy. Golden bronze. Possibly Rome, last third of the 16th century-first quarter of the 17th century, following the model of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Gilded bronze pla...
Category

Early 17th Century European Renaissance Antique Madrid

Materials

Other, Bronze

Mid-Century Modern Style Oak Wood and Black Glass Italian Sideboard
By L.A. Studio
Located in Ibiza, Spain
This Italian sideboard, designed by L.A. Studio, features a sophisticated composition with two central sliding doors and two folding doors. Crafted from solid oakwood, its structure ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Madrid

Materials

Glass, Oak

Ettore Sottsass Contemporary Modern "Demistella" Marble Italian Console
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in Ibiza, Spain
The "Demistella" console, designed by Ettore Sottsass for Up & Up, features a solid wood structure with briar root and lacquered wood accents. Its cylindrical legs are crafted from M...
Category

1990s Italian Modern Madrid

Materials

Marble

Magnificent 19th Century Neo-Gothic Wooden Bench
Located in Madrid, ES
Step into history with this grand Neo-Gothic wooden bench from the late 19th century. Sourced from an ancient museum, this extraordinary piece is a true testament to the elegance and...
Category

1890s Antique Madrid

Materials

Wood

Brown paper 01
By Juan Jose Garay
Located in LAS ROZAS DE MADRID, ES
A painting in abstract enamel is an explosion of shapes, textures, and colors that invite personal interpretation. Across the canvas, dynamic and free brushstrokes intertwine, creati...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Madrid

Materials

Enamel

Original Sculpture / Seat Mod Up7 Designed by Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Ibiza, Spain
The large seat/sculpture mod. Up7, designed by the renowned Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce in 1969, represents a milestone in contemporary furniture design. Produced by B&B Italia as part of the UP series...
Category

Early 2000s Italian Madrid

Materials

Plastic

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. 1696-1698: Studies (apparently rather turbulent) at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. 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. 1708: De Troy (whose father had been elected Director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 7 July) is agréé and immediately received at the Académie with Apollo and Diana Piercing with their Arrows the Children of Niobe (Montpellier, Musée Fabre) on 28 July. 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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