Les sculptures de Marly de Louis XIV : influence vénitienne et destinée sous Louis XV

Abstract

The architecture of Jules Hardouin-Mansart’s Royal Pavilion at Marly has long been recognized as a derivation from Palladio’s Villa Rotonda, and its painting programme was executed by a generation of artists influenced by Titian and Rubens. In this article, the garden sculptures, too, are studied for possible Venetian models. Among the best indications of attitudes toward Venetian art and architecture in the milieu of court architects are the travel journals of Robert de Cotte and Nicodemus Tessin from the 1680s. Their respect for Palladio is adduced as a factor in the forms and uses of sculpture in the gardens of Marly. The use of sculpture in the piazzetta San Marco in Venice, the ancient Horses from Constantinople on the façade of San Marco, the aesthetic of Venetian small bronzes, and the Giardino Giusti in Verona are also possibly influential. The production and collection of bronze reductions of Antoine Coysevox’s emblematic Fame and Mercury during the reign of Louis XV and the plans in that period for the completion and disposition of the series of sculpted Companions of Diana are identified as subjects that warrant further research.

Keywords

• Antoine Coysevox
• Compagnes de Diane
• Andrea Palladio
• bronzes
• chevaux
• Giardino Giusti