Lot n° 62
Estimation :
800 - 1200
EUR
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Carved oak paneled panel. Central decoration of a mask with - Lot 62
Carved oak paneled panel. Central decoration of a mask with headdress surrounded by leafy branches. On either side are a pair of figures forming a caryatid. They are depicted as savages, naked with a loincloth around their waist and holding baskets of fruit.
Normandy, Rouen, 1550
H.: 68.5 cm - W.: 44 cm
(small worm holes)
The quality of the oak and the type of boughs in the decoration suggest that it was carved in Normandy. In view of this highly original and surprising decoration, a hypothesis can be put forward concerning this panel. It could have been carved on the occasion of the solemn entry of King Henri II and Queen Catherine de Médicis into Rouen in 1550. Indeed, chronicles recount that, as part of this royal visit, the people of Rouen brought fifty authentic Brazilians and built an exact replica of their village on an island in the Seine. Three hundred people gathered in this village, all naked, their bodies painted red (fig). Those who didn't come from Brazil were sailors from Normandy, playing the "savage". This evocation was part of a series of highly impressive festivities designed to rival the King's entries into Lyon in
Lyon in 1548 and Paris in 1549.
Book consulted: Wintroub Michael. L'ordre du rituel et l'ordre des choses: l'entrée royale d'Henri II à Rouen. In: Annales. Histoire,
Sociales. 56e année, N. 2, 2001. pp. 479-505
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