Royal and Noble
Royal and Noble
Property of the von Könemann family, formerly at their estate Pritzier near Hagenow
A FRENCH METAMORPHOSES MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY FRAGMENT, PARIS, FAUBOURG SAINT GERMAIN, WORKSHOP OF DE LA PLANCHE, AFTER MICHEL CORNEILLE, FROM THE SERIES THE STORY OF DAPHNE AND APOLLO, 17TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
January 21, 06:17 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property of the von Könemann family, formerly at their estate Pritzier near Hagenow
A FRENCH METAMORPHOSES MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY FRAGMENT, PARIS, FAUBOURG SAINT GERMAIN, WORKSHOP OF DE LA PLANCHE, AFTER MICHEL CORNEILLE, FROM THE SERIES THE STORY OF DAPHNE AND APOLLO, 17TH CENTURY
fragment from a larger tapestry, finely woven in wool and silk with a mountainous landscape, the river god Peneus with a water spouting urn in the centre, consoled by another river god, with Daphne transforming into a laurel tree, hovering above with cupid at her side, lacking any border section, with later selvedges
approximately 226cm. high, 160cm. wide; 7ft. 5in., 5ft. 3in.
Michel Corneille (1601 – 1644) provided designs for this series of Daphné tapestries, circa 1650, for which there were five panels in the series, woven on various occasions, with choice of up to seven border designs, and at different standards of weaving. They were woven at the de la Planche workshop, or Raphael and his son and successor Sébastien-François. Cartoons for the series are noted in the inventory taken by Philippe de Champaigne of the workshop, on the death of Raphael (27th September 1661): `Cinq autres pieces, aussi peintes en huile et sur toile… représentans L’Histoire de Daphné, et prises ensemble 50 livres.’
The tapestry is a section from the left hand side half of the original composition of Daphne transformed into laurel. She is seen flying and in transformation with leaves of laurel appearing from her hand, with putto at her side. Her father the river god, Peneus, is seen below leaning over his upturned urn, but is unable to help her. The right hand side of the original composition would have extended to include three concerned female attendants, and the left hand side would have had two further river gods.
For details of a comparable weaving of the series, see Lisses et Délices Chefs-d’oevre de la tapisserie de Henri IV à Louis XIV, Exhibition Catalogue, 7th September 1995 – 5th January 1996, Château de Chambord, Caisse Nationale des Monuments historiques et des sites, Paris, 1996, Chp. Daphné (Château de Châteaudun), Nicole de Reynies pp.251-257, with examples of the complete panels from which the present tapestry derives.
For further discussion of the artist and five tapestry series that Michel Corneille was involved with, see Emmanuel Coquery, Michel Corneille (1603-1664) Un Peintre du Roi au temps de Mazarin, Exhibition Catalogue, Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, 8th April – 9th July 2006, Somogy Editions, Paris, 2006, Histoire de Daphné, Cat. T5., pp.122-126, pls.T5.1.c and T54.