Elevation of a Royal Bedroom

Jean Le Pautre|Anonymous, French, 17th century

1656–57 or after · Pen and brown ink with brown wash · Drawings and Prints

Jean Lepautre was the older brother of the architect Antoine Le Pautre. He is mainly known for his enormous production of prints of which a large part contains designs for architecture, the interior and ornament, often based on his own designs. He devoted 10 series, comprising a total of 71 prints to designs for bedrooms, some of which contain narrative scenes while others are purely focused on the aspect of design. This drawing relates to the series ‘Alcoves à l’Italiene’ [sic] (Alcoves in the Italian manner) which was published by Pierre II Mariette around 1656-1657. It shows an elegant canopy bed, supported by caryatids and is crowned by a fleur-de-lis. This emblem of the French monarchy is used as a theme throughout the interior returning in the crown surmounting the alcove, the woodwork of the balustrade, the wallpaper and the draperies.

Artist

Jean Le Pautre|Anonymous, French, 17th century

Date

1656–57 or after

Medium

Pen and brown ink with brown wash

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of William Rieder, 2009