Treasures of the Grand Siècle Exhibition
From September 19 to 23, 2022, in the IESA Gallery
Treasures of the Grand Siècle is part of a season devoted to the 17th century that began in March 2022 with the exhibition Vive Henri IV. It is organized by Bachelor Year 2 Old Master Art / Art Market students under the guidance of their lead professors Luis Belhaouari and David Brouzet. Significant for the quality and variety of the works, it aims to show the remarkable dynamism of artistic and craft production in France under the Bourbons.
France, circa 1680, Portrait of the Duchesse de Fontanges (private collection)
All the works come from private collections
In the field of painting and graphic arts, note the presence of a previously unseen portrait of Marie-Angélique de Fontanges, "the last passion of the Sun King," to borrow the title of the biography published in 2021 by historian Patrick Daguenet. At the end of the exhibition, the portrait of the favorite will be placed at the château de Grignan (Drôme) within an entirely renewed museum tour.
The gallery also shows a series of drawings by François Verdier (1651 - 1730), a painter of the Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, the main follower of Charles Le Brun and the author of important paintings for the Trianon de Marbre at Versailles.
Let us also note the lush bouquets engraved by Jacques Vauquer after the flower painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636 - 1699).
The decorative arts triumph here as well: carpentry and cabinetmaking are particularly well represented; for the occasion, students are exceptionally allowed to open the doors of an ebony cabinet to reveal the extraordinary richness of its interior, a sort of miniature theater stage.
The tableware arts are never forgotten at IESA: the table is set with cardinal-style dishes and plates and ceramic pieces. A few rare silverware objects were lent by a former IESA student, now an expert in the field, Emmanuel de Monteynard.
Finally, let us mention a sumptuous tapestry from the Beauvais manufactory, part of the Birds Tapestry Series of the Menagerie, of the same model as the one presented by the Palace of Versailles in the exhibition The King’s Animals in 2021/2022…
François Verdier, Christ on the Mount of Olives (private collection)
Detail of an oak cabinet, mid-17th century (private collection)