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Lot Essay
A study for the term supporting the trompe l'oeil cornice of the Escalier des Ambassadeurs at Versailles, destroyed in 1752 and known today through an engraving by C. Simonneau l'aîné, C. Constans in L'escalier des Ambassadeurs à Versailles, exhib. cat., Versailles, 1990, p. 25.
The decoration of the staircase was begun in 1674 and finished four years later. One of the key elements of King Louis XIV's decoration of Versailles, it introduced visitors to the Grands Appartements. The large verrière in the ceiling was surrounded by a trompe l'oeil cornice, with a second cornice underneath supported by twelve terms painted a bronze colour, each representing a month. The cartoons for one of these terms is in the Louvre, J. Guiffrey and P. Marcel, Inventaire général des desssins du Musée du Louvre et du Musée de Versailles, Ecole Franaise, Paris, 1913, VIII, no. 6858.
We are grateful to Dr. Jennifer Montagu for confirming the attribution and providing the information for this note.
The decoration of the staircase was begun in 1674 and finished four years later. One of the key elements of King Louis XIV's decoration of Versailles, it introduced visitors to the Grands Appartements. The large verrière in the ceiling was surrounded by a trompe l'oeil cornice, with a second cornice underneath supported by twelve terms painted a bronze colour, each representing a month. The cartoons for one of these terms is in the Louvre, J. Guiffrey and P. Marcel, Inventaire général des desssins du Musée du Louvre et du Musée de Versailles, Ecole Franaise, Paris, 1913, VIII, no. 6858.
We are grateful to Dr. Jennifer Montagu for confirming the attribution and providing the information for this note.