Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
The Taft Museum, New York, 1995, pp. 374-76
This plate is from a series of twenty-six which Pierre Reymond decorated in 1567-68, all depicting scenes from the Legend of the Golden Fleece. Reymond based his designs on René Boyvin's prints from the Livre de la Conqueste de Toison d'Or, published in 1563. The present plate, bearing the number '19', corresponds closely with the print number '19' by Boyvin.
Of the twenty-six plates, those with uneven numbers bear the coat of arms of Henri de Mesmes de Ravignon, and those with even numbers have a similar coat of arms of another, still unidentified, member of the family. Henri de Mesmes (1532-1596) negotiated the peace of Saint-Germain with the Huguenots in 1570; he became chancellor after the Saint Bartholomew Massacre in 1572; and he was ultimately dismissed by the king in 1582.
Fewer than twenty of the plates from the series have been traced; eleven are in museums: six in the British Musuem, four in the Louvre, and one in the Ashmolean.
The Taft Museum, New York, 1995, pp. 374-76
This plate is from a series of twenty-six which Pierre Reymond decorated in 1567-68, all depicting scenes from the Legend of the Golden Fleece. Reymond based his designs on René Boyvin's prints from the Livre de la Conqueste de Toison d'Or, published in 1563. The present plate, bearing the number '19', corresponds closely with the print number '19' by Boyvin.
Of the twenty-six plates, those with uneven numbers bear the coat of arms of Henri de Mesmes de Ravignon, and those with even numbers have a similar coat of arms of another, still unidentified, member of the family. Henri de Mesmes (1532-1596) negotiated the peace of Saint-Germain with the Huguenots in 1570; he became chancellor after the Saint Bartholomew Massacre in 1572; and he was ultimately dismissed by the king in 1582.
Fewer than twenty of the plates from the series have been traced; eleven are in museums: six in the British Musuem, four in the Louvre, and one in the Ashmolean.