Day 191 - Bronze Venus
September 25, 2019
Considering what a slog the last few galleries have been, it's especially a pleasure to look at the medals, statuettes, and other decorative objects from 17th century France that are on display in gallery 532. What impresses me most, perhaps, is the objects' variety. There is the obligatory large medal showing a heavily bewigged Louis XIV in profile. But there is also a medal portraying Henri IV, his wife Marie de Medecis, and the Dauphin on which the king and his spouse are clad in fanciful classical attire -- he wears a toga and sandals, she a clinging drapy dress that doesn't cover her knees-- while the Dauphin wears ... nothing, it appears. Above the royal family, at the top of the medal, hovers a dove, symbolizing, I suppose, the peace that Henri brought to a country riven by religious conflicts.
There are a couple of bronze statuettes of Christ. There is also an earthenware one of a woman holding a baby in swaddling. The caption describes her as a nurse, and the head covering she wears looks like something out of a genre painting, but I think she could double as a Madonna. I don't see any medals with religious subjects. It appears that the royals and aristocrats preferred to depict themselves and their exploits on the medals rather than to advertise their religious devotion - although I realize that it's risky to hazard such a generalization based on the objects donated to a museum.
It's also interesting to see the many watches, some with elaborately enameled and painted cases, along with a brass-and-silver portable sundial and an instrument for calibrating it. These lead me to think that time must have had a new meaning as instruments for measuring it became more accurate and more diffused, at least among the aristocracy.
Today's object is perhaps the most surprising to me: a bronze statue of a nude Venus, perhaps 9 inches high, standing and gazing at herself in a mirror she holds in her right hand. Cast in Paris in the late 16th or early 17th century, the figure is notable for her slim, elongated limbs and small head. While I realize that these features were typical of Mannerism, the simplicity of the form (the facial features are barely indicated) makes this Venus feel strikingly modern. The statuette is ascribed to a couple of different sculptors, one Dutch, one French, and it's described as a "model"; I wonder if a larger version was ever made. This is a piece I would gladly take home.
There are a couple of bronze statuettes of Christ. There is also an earthenware one of a woman holding a baby in swaddling. The caption describes her as a nurse, and the head covering she wears looks like something out of a genre painting, but I think she could double as a Madonna. I don't see any medals with religious subjects. It appears that the royals and aristocrats preferred to depict themselves and their exploits on the medals rather than to advertise their religious devotion - although I realize that it's risky to hazard such a generalization based on the objects donated to a museum.
It's also interesting to see the many watches, some with elaborately enameled and painted cases, along with a brass-and-silver portable sundial and an instrument for calibrating it. These lead me to think that time must have had a new meaning as instruments for measuring it became more accurate and more diffused, at least among the aristocracy.
Today's object is perhaps the most surprising to me: a bronze statue of a nude Venus, perhaps 9 inches high, standing and gazing at herself in a mirror she holds in her right hand. Cast in Paris in the late 16th or early 17th century, the figure is notable for her slim, elongated limbs and small head. While I realize that these features were typical of Mannerism, the simplicity of the form (the facial features are barely indicated) makes this Venus feel strikingly modern. The statuette is ascribed to a couple of different sculptors, one Dutch, one French, and it's described as a "model"; I wonder if a larger version was ever made. This is a piece I would gladly take home.
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