Allegory of Music (1681-1684). Antoine Coypel (French, 1661-1722). Oil on canvas.This work is one of
Allegory of Music (1681-1684). Antoine Coypel (French, 1661-1722). Oil on canvas.This work is one of only two or three remaining paintings from a project commissioned by Charles Perrault, a literary figure and art theorist as well as an aide to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s chief minister. Although ostensibly an Allegory of Music, elements in the composition itself, as well as literary and external pictorial evidence, allow us to identify it as a Portrait of Mme. de Maintenon with the Natural Children of Louis XIV. The picture was originally part of a complex ceiling design depicting the Arts and Sciences commissioned by Perrault for his house in the rue Neuve des Bon-Enfants, Paris. -- source link
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