Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues - Sculpture, London, 1931, nos. S172-175
F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries - the reign of Louis XIV, Paris, 1987, III, pp. 93-112
The lavish scale on which members of the court of Louis XIV lived, ensured that sculptural programmes were a vital part of the decoration of any château or hôtel of the period. Sets of allegorical figures provided the perfect opportunity to create symmetrical groupings destined to adorn a parterre or architectural niches, and representations of the Four Seasons were among the most popular of these.
The present four figures would appear to be the only known set of this particular composition carved in marble, and are presumably the source of versions which are known to exist in bronze. Among these latter, the best known is probably the set of four parcel-gilt bronzes, of marginally smaller dimensions than the present figures, which are in the Wallace Collection, London (see Mann, loc. cit.). Other versions were formerly in the Abdy Collection, London, and figures of Summer and Autumn were sold in the Leboeuf de Montgermont sale in 1919 (Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 16-19 June, probably the same figures which remain today in a private collection in France). That the figures were originally conceived of as marbles can be deduced from the composition of each of the figures, which is constructed in such a way that the weight of the model is not supported by a thin pair of ankles alone. If they had been designed originally as bronzes, the strength of the metal would have made such support unnecessary.
When the marbles were discussed in Bapst's article of 1920, they were attributed to Antoine Coysevox (d. 1640), but they have more recently been asssociated with the work of Pierre Mazeline. Mazeline, who was born in Rouen, was in Paris by May 1666, and was received into the Académie in 1668. From 1669 until his death almost 40 years later, Mazeline was employed at the Bâtiments du Roi, sometimes working alone, but often working in conjunction with other artists such as Simon Hurtrelle (1648-1724) and Noel Jouvenet (d. 1716). Among his most important commissions were an over life-size bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV, destined for the Place Royale du Peyrou in Montpelier, and the tombs of the Chancellor Michel Le Tellier and the Duc de Créqui, executed between 1686 and 1699 (Souchal, loc. cit.).
The four figures here, with their classicising yet languid poses, may be compared with several of the freestanding figures associated with the above-mentioned tombs by Mazeline. The ample physiognomic proportions and the generous swathe of drapery which crosses the hips of the figure of Summer, for example, are highly reminiscent of the figure of Magnificence, originally part of the tomb of the Duc de Créqui and now in a chapel of the Dôme des Invalides. Similarly, the facial type of the female figures of Spring and Summer display the same wide-set eyes, classicising nose and small mouth as can be seen on figures of Justice and Prudence in the Church of Saint Gervais, Paris.
J. G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues - Sculpture, London, 1931, nos. S172-175
F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries - the reign of Louis XIV, Paris, 1987, III, pp. 93-112
The lavish scale on which members of the court of Louis XIV lived, ensured that sculptural programmes were a vital part of the decoration of any château or hôtel of the period. Sets of allegorical figures provided the perfect opportunity to create symmetrical groupings destined to adorn a parterre or architectural niches, and representations of the Four Seasons were among the most popular of these.
The present four figures would appear to be the only known set of this particular composition carved in marble, and are presumably the source of versions which are known to exist in bronze. Among these latter, the best known is probably the set of four parcel-gilt bronzes, of marginally smaller dimensions than the present figures, which are in the Wallace Collection, London (see Mann, loc. cit.). Other versions were formerly in the Abdy Collection, London, and figures of Summer and Autumn were sold in the Leboeuf de Montgermont sale in 1919 (Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 16-19 June, probably the same figures which remain today in a private collection in France). That the figures were originally conceived of as marbles can be deduced from the composition of each of the figures, which is constructed in such a way that the weight of the model is not supported by a thin pair of ankles alone. If they had been designed originally as bronzes, the strength of the metal would have made such support unnecessary.
When the marbles were discussed in Bapst's article of 1920, they were attributed to Antoine Coysevox (d. 1640), but they have more recently been asssociated with the work of Pierre Mazeline. Mazeline, who was born in Rouen, was in Paris by May 1666, and was received into the Académie in 1668. From 1669 until his death almost 40 years later, Mazeline was employed at the Bâtiments du Roi, sometimes working alone, but often working in conjunction with other artists such as Simon Hurtrelle (1648-1724) and Noel Jouvenet (d. 1716). Among his most important commissions were an over life-size bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV, destined for the Place Royale du Peyrou in Montpelier, and the tombs of the Chancellor Michel Le Tellier and the Duc de Créqui, executed between 1686 and 1699 (Souchal, loc. cit.).
The four figures here, with their classicising yet languid poses, may be compared with several of the freestanding figures associated with the above-mentioned tombs by Mazeline. The ample physiognomic proportions and the generous swathe of drapery which crosses the hips of the figure of Summer, for example, are highly reminiscent of the figure of Magnificence, originally part of the tomb of the Duc de Créqui and now in a chapel of the Dôme des Invalides. Similarly, the facial type of the female figures of Spring and Summer display the same wide-set eyes, classicising nose and small mouth as can be seen on figures of Justice and Prudence in the Church of Saint Gervais, Paris.