Planned ceiling paintings in the Japanese Palace
_im_Japanischen_Palais_in_Dresden,_Paris,_Privatbesitz.jpg)
The planned ceiling paintings in the Japanese Palace should be created by Louis de Silvestre . The Palais of Count Fleming, built in 1715 in the Saxon residence city of Dresden , was called the Dutch Palace at the time after the Dutch envoy lived there for a short time. In 1717 it passed into the possession of the Saxon Elector Friedrich August I , who from 1727 had it enlarged and redesigned considerably. Due to the death of the elector in 1733, the construction work was interrupted, the new elector Friedrich August II approved only a small amount of funds, which meant that Silvestre's planned ceiling paintings could no longer be carried out.
Art historical significance
Harald Marx describes that they were among the (at least planned) monumental paintings and must therefore be mentioned:
"Among the monumental paintings by Silvestre, the ceilings in the Japanese Palace in Dresden, which were at least planned, must also be mentioned ..."
Description and reception
In his monograph on porcelain in the Japanese Palace, the art historian Jean Louis Sponsel also reports on a French declaration on the planned decoration of the palace, which deals with the Elbgalerie and the two adjoining corner rooms. It also describes the planned ceiling paintings, which Sponsel sums up as follows:
“The ceiling picture of the gallery should be divided into three parts, in the middle Saxony and Japan, who are fighting against Minerva over the preference of their porcelain. In their surroundings one sees the allegory of competition, good taste, invention, imitation, painting and sculpture and all the virtues that add to the beauty of porcelain products. Minerva gives the prize to Saxony, and the allegorical figures of anger and jealousy induce Japan to re-ship the porcelain vessels she had brought with her. Certainly a well-placed allegory in the age of mercantilism. The two side parts of the ceiling picture are intended to convey the arts and manufactories on the one hand, and the natural regional products of Saxony on the other. "
Sponsel suspects that the “peintre sçavant” in the French declaration on the planned decoration of the Japanese palace could mean Louis Silvestre:
“The ceiling of the throne room shows the dispute between Athena and Neptune over the name of the city of Athens; a "big" material because all the gods of paganism can be depicted on it. Of course, this includes a "peintre sçavant" (probably meant Louis Silvestre). "
However, Harald Marx goes further than Sponsel does in his guess. He explains that the “peintre sçavant” in the French declaration on the planned decoration of the Japanese palace is really Louis de Silvestre. Marx justifies this with the "same, slightly erratic lines often repeated in the contours". These are also known from other drawings by Silvestre:
“That Silvestre was really - and not just presumably - meant here is shown by a drawing for the ceiling painting in the throne room, which is now privately owned in Paris, and which clearly shows Silvestre's drawing style. They are the same, slightly erratic strokes, often repeated in the contours, that we know from the other drawings. Despite the existence of this drawing, it remains questionable whether the work was actually carried out. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harald Marx: The paintings of Louis de Silvestre. State Art collections, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden 1975, p. 35.
- ^ Jean Louis Sponsel: Cabinet pieces from the Meissen porcelain manufactory by Johann Joachim KÄNDER. Herrmann Seemann Successor, Leipzig 1900, pp. 27–28
- ↑ Figure 9. Drawing for a ceiling painting in the Japanese Palace in Dresden . Paris. Privately owned. In: Harald Marx: The paintings of Louis de Silvestre. State Art collections, Old Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden 1975.