Découverte à Paris d’un plafond peint à décor de singeries attribué à Claude III Audran, Antoine Watteau et Nicolas Lancret

Abstract

The recent discovery of a rare ceiling painting in the way of the « décor de singeries » has enriched our knowledge of the ornemental Parisian art dating of the end of the Louis XIV’s reign. The study of this work, with great artistic quality, perfectly perserved, though modestly sized, allows us to identify two of the painters: Claude III Audran and Antoine Watteau; and enables us to put forward a third hand: Nicolas Lancret. The suggested date of 1713 provides us with a new theory on the period of theses artistes’ collaboration and replaces this decorative creation in the political, artistic and cultural context of Saint-Germain’s district, two years before Regence.

Keywords

• ornemental art
• ceiling
• monkeys
• eighteenth century
• Louis XIV's reign