18th-century art at the Huntington Library

~ Hyejin Lee ~ Leave a comment

Some of the highlights from the European art wing of the Huntington Library’s art collection:

Thomas Gainsborough, The Blue Boy, 1770
Wedgwood ceramic and jasperware collection
Wedgwood ceramic and jasperware collection
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Head of a Boy (Alexandre-Évariste “Fanfan” Fragonard), ca. 1785
Jean-Antoine Houdon, Anne-Germane Larrivée, Madame Paul-Luois Girardot de Vermenoux, 1777
French paintings
Miniature collection
Richard Cosway, miniature portrait medallion
Thomas Gainsborough, Cottage Door, ca. 1780

What an amazing repository of historical manuscripts and artworks! Combined with the gorgeous gardens, the Huntington Library is well worth a trip to Pasadena.

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Marie Antoinette’s silver boudoir at Château de Fontainebleau

~ Hyejin Lee ~ 1 Comment

Located between the chambers of the Queen and the King on the lower level of the château de Fontainebleau is one of Marie-Antoinette’s private boudoirs commissioned by Louis XVI.

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The silver boudoir (“boudoir argent”) was decorated by the Rousseau brothers in 1786 in the antique style. The boudoir is named after the silver background on which various arabesque designs, incorporating floral motifs, animals, classical figures, are painted. These silver panels are set within gold frames, creating an intense shimmer in the space.

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One of Marie Antoinette’s favorite cabinetmakers, Jean Henri Riesener provided the furniture pieces for this space.

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The roll-top desk and the trough-shaped table are lined with mother-of-pearl, their iridescence and classicizing motifs complementing the metallic sheen and the overall decorative style of the boudoir.

This extraordinary room also features four pairs of overdoor sculptures, representing female personifications of various arts and sciences, such as music, theater, and astronomy. Each figure holds the attributes of one or two of the nine muses.

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Clio (history) with a trumpet and a book; Erato (lyric poetry) with a lyre
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Urania (Astronomy) with a celestial globe and a compass, and a mystery woman with a caduceus (perhaps Melpomene, the muse of tragedy?)
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Calliope (epic poetry) with golden crown; Polyhymnia (hymns) with a scroll? or Melpomene (Tragedy) or Thalia (Comedy) with a mask?
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Euterpe (Music) with a flute; Terpsichore (Dance) with a harp

These are all my guesses on what these figures could represent, but it is interesting that there are eight figures holding the emblems of the nine muses.

Does this suggest that the intended occupant of this space, Marie Antoinette, was to complete the iconographic program as one of the muses? If one of these figures is a hybrid of two muses, that would mean that this boudoir is the queen’s very own Parnassus where she surrounds herself with a divine entourage..

A private, intimate space where a woman can enjoy music, conversation, and company of her closest companions. Whatever the precise intention/identification for the sculptural program might have been, I’d say this is definitely a boudoir fit for a queen.