Lot Essay
The design for Les Portières des Dieux, first known as Nouvelles portières des Rabesques des Dieux and comprising four panels of the Seasons and four panels of the Gods, was ordered by Mansart from Claude Audran Le Jeune (1639-1684) in 1699 (M. Fenaille, Etat général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, 1699-1736, Paris, 1904, pp. 1-59). The figures of the various goddesses, gods and children were designed by Louis de Boulogne (1654-1733) and Corneille, while the animals are probably after Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743). The first tapestries of this series were finished in January 1701 in the atelier of Dominique De La Croix (active till 1712) and the series proved to be one of the most enduring of all the Gobelins designs and was woven throughout the 18th Century with a variety of borders and in a number of colours.
The design for Diana, emblematic for 'Earth' from the Elements series, was so worn by 1749, that they ceased to weave it until 1758, when Jacques and Sufflot redesigned the subject completely. This panel belongs to the first design. The borders of this tapestry belong to the first ones designed by Audran. They were used for both the gold colour-backed subjects as well as the silk-backed ones. Louis Ovis De la Tour (active 1703-1734) ran one of the three haute lisse atéliers at the Royal Gobelins Manufacture, and in 1725 was uniquely engaged to weave one full set of eight tapestries with the first border. He is recorded as having started the weaving for Diana in 1726 and having finished it in October 1728. Unfortunately the records for the subsequent sale of this set are not entirely clear. During this period a total of 36 tapestries from this series were woven by three different workshops. It appears that this tapestry did not form part of one of the initial recorded sales of complete sets as they all list the borders with a blue background and this tapestry has a bronze-coloured background. After these initial deliveries, 16 tapestries remained at Gobelins', of which three depicted 'Diana'. In an iventory of 1736, Gobelins lists the delivery of a 'Diana' tapestry from this group to the château de Chambord for King Stanislas (Fenaille, op. cit., p. 31). Problems with the sale of the remaining tapestries led to the reduction of their price by up to 1/3 during a discussion of a sale of eight tapestries in 1768. By year XIII of the new regime after the French Revolution, there were still five tapestries, including two with 'Diana' as their subject, all, like this one, measuring 357 cm. in height. In 1904 these were recorded in the garde-meuble national. It is therefore most probable that this tapestry was the one delivered to the château de Chambord in 1736.
The design for Diana, emblematic for 'Earth' from the Elements series, was so worn by 1749, that they ceased to weave it until 1758, when Jacques and Sufflot redesigned the subject completely. This panel belongs to the first design. The borders of this tapestry belong to the first ones designed by Audran. They were used for both the gold colour-backed subjects as well as the silk-backed ones. Louis Ovis De la Tour (active 1703-1734) ran one of the three haute lisse atéliers at the Royal Gobelins Manufacture, and in 1725 was uniquely engaged to weave one full set of eight tapestries with the first border. He is recorded as having started the weaving for Diana in 1726 and having finished it in October 1728. Unfortunately the records for the subsequent sale of this set are not entirely clear. During this period a total of 36 tapestries from this series were woven by three different workshops. It appears that this tapestry did not form part of one of the initial recorded sales of complete sets as they all list the borders with a blue background and this tapestry has a bronze-coloured background. After these initial deliveries, 16 tapestries remained at Gobelins', of which three depicted 'Diana'. In an iventory of 1736, Gobelins lists the delivery of a 'Diana' tapestry from this group to the château de Chambord for King Stanislas (Fenaille, op. cit., p. 31). Problems with the sale of the remaining tapestries led to the reduction of their price by up to 1/3 during a discussion of a sale of eight tapestries in 1768. By year XIII of the new regime after the French Revolution, there were still five tapestries, including two with 'Diana' as their subject, all, like this one, measuring 357 cm. in height. In 1904 these were recorded in the garde-meuble national. It is therefore most probable that this tapestry was the one delivered to the château de Chambord in 1736.