Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables in mural decorations of the eighteenth century
Type de matériel :
16
In 1750, fermier général François-Balthazar Dangé acquired a Parisian residence and two years later the boudoir was decorated with twelve scenes taken from Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables, painted on wood panelling and inserted into a symmetrically framed rococo surrounding. For Mme Dangé’s personal use, the boudoir space formed a reception hall that allowed select visitors to be received in a pleasant, fashionable but not too bold setting. The theme of the fables charmed eyes with its mix of landscapes and animal scenes, while it ravished minds with the entertainment it generated, the iconographic route it provided, the thoughts to which it gave birth and the discourse it carried. The scenes are unlikely to be by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, but they were certainly painted by someone who took on the iconographical heritage of the fables in order to produce original creations.
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