Armide abandoned by Renaud Tapestry from... - Lot 218 - Giquello

Lot 218
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Result : 31 200EUR
Armide abandoned by Renaud Tapestry from... - Lot 218 - Giquello
Armide abandoned by Renaud Tapestry from the Ateliers de Paris, Faubourg Saint Marcel 17th century, ca. 1635-1640, after Simon Vouet (1590-1649) H. 3,44 x L. 2,46 m Woolen warp (7 to 8 threads per cm), woolen and silk weft Two marks in the right outer braid, of which AC for Alexandre de Comans, active in the workshops of the Faubourg Saint Marcel (from 1634 to 1650) Origin of the model The tapestry is part of the hanging of Renaud and Armide after Simon Vouet. Renaud, the Christian knight, and Armide, the Moorish princess, are two of the heroes of The Jerusalem Delivered, an epic poem of 1562 by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso (1545-1595), translated into French in the 17th century. Their loves and adventures had been painted by Simon Vouet before 1632 for the superintendent of the king's buildings, Henry de Fourcy, for the gallery of his castle of Chessy, near Lagny. Simon Vouet and his workshop, from these creations for Chessy, established cartoons to translate them into tapestries. The Parisian workshops (Ateliers du Louvre, Faubourg St Marcel, Faubourg St Germain) wove tapestries of Renaud and Armide (Lavalle 1990, p 512 to 518 and Reyniès 2010, p.160 ). B. Bréjon de Lavergné has compared a drawing in the Department of Graphic Arts of the Louvre to the woman in the back of the boat in the present tapestry. A canvas dated 1631 (private collection), coming from the Chessy cycle and representing the same subject as the present tapestry is reproduced in the same study, n° 74, p.374. Iconography Renaud and Armide are enemies, since he is a Christian knight, companion of Godefroy de Bouillon, during the first Crusade, and she, a Moorish princess, but also a magician. This is the story of a hatred that will turn into love. On the enchanted island, Armide falls in love with Renaud and he forgets his mission. There will be some more or less dramatic adventures. The episode staged on this tapestry is undoubtedly the one where Renaud, reminded of his duties by two Christian knights, that we see on the boat, abandons Armide to resume the fight with Godefroy de Bouillon. Tapestries in connection This hanging was very successful in the time of Louis XIII. In 1637, Cardinal Antonio Barberini bought from Mazarin (then in his service) a hanging of ten tapestries, by the workshop of Raphaël de la Planche, which are now preserved in the United States, at the Flint Institute of Arts, in Flint, Michigan. The same subject as the present tapestry is among the ten pieces, but in a smaller version (Bertrand, 2005 pp 141 and 314, fig. 124). Many French and foreign museums preserve one or more tapestries of this famous hanging. Materials and condition : The tapestry, finely woven, is in a good general condition. Bibliographical references: Pascal-François Bertrand, 2005, Tapestries of the Barberini and interior decoration in Baroque Rome. Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, 1990, Dessins dans catalog de l'exposition Vouet (Paris, Novembre 1990 - février 1991) Denis Lavalle, 1990, Simon Vouet et la tapisserie dans catalog de l'exposition Vouet Nicole de Reyniès, 2010, Les Tapisseries françaises dans catalog de la Collection Toms, Tapisseries du XVIe au XIXe siècle, Lausanne
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