Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Exceptional mirror in lime wood gilded with leaf.
The richly sculpted frame has a double border, made up of a frieze of laurel leaves and acanthus leaf strips, foliage of bouquets of roses and openwork sunflowers, on a trellis background finely engraved in the primers.
It supports an important pediment with openwork acanthus leaves with the god Jupiter on his eagle in the center, wearing his crown and armed with a thunderbolt.
On each side, two kneeling putti hold at arm's length large garlands of flowers that fall in drops on each side of the frame.
Great quality of carving.
Mercury glass.
Very good state of conservation.
Aix en Provence, Louis XIV period, end of the 17th century.
Dimensions:
Height: 172cm; Width: 115
A similarly decorated mirror was in the collection of the Marquis de Lagoy.
Our opinion :
The exceptional mirror that we are presenting features a very Louis Quatorzian decor of an all-powerful divinity.
This type of allegorical decoration representing Jupiter will be a leitmotif throughout the reign of the Sun King.
We find it in particular in passages from the literature of the time, as in the comedy Amphytrion written by Molière "Jupiter, in a nude, on his eagle, armed with his lightning, to the sound of thunder and lightning", but also in "Les Amours de Jupiter et Sémélé" by Boyer "JUPITER descends, carried by his eagle, in the middle of the flaming clouds or in "La Toison d'or" by Pierre Corneille: "The sky opens [...] This master of the gods appears there on his throne, with Juno at his side.
Our mirror corresponds to the very first models produced in Provence by newly arrived Roman artists.
The city of Aix has been in turmoil since Archbishop Michel de Mazarin decided to build a new district on land donated by the church.
From then on, the elite of the Provencal nobility will have magnificent mansions built, attracting in their wake many painters, sculptors, gilders...
Italian artists will be highly sought after, on the one hand to satisfy the fashion driven by the bishop's brother, Cardinal Mazarin, but also for their ability to produce these rare mirrors, which have been the pride of France since the king had the Hall of Mirrors built in his Palace of Versailles. (1678-1684)
Our mirror was probably commissioned in this cultural context in order to show on the one hand the wealth of its sponsor but also its attachment to the Roman Catholic Church.
Due to their exorbitant prices and their great fragility, few of these ceremonial pieces have reached us, especially in good condition.
