December 2023 Decorative Arts
Daphnis et Chloé
An enlightened art lover, the Regent Philippe II of Orléans took up painting, following the counsel of his First Painter, Charles Coypel. The tapestry piece of Daphnis and Chloe, woven at the Manufacture des Gobelins circa 1718-1720, based on his cartoons, offers a unique testimony to his pictorial practice. On display at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, as part of the exhibition La Régence à Paris (1715-1723): l’aube des Lumières until 25 February 2024, these four tapestries foster a dialogue with an ensemble of decorative art masterpieces housed at the Museum in the so-called “Regency” style.
See the artwork in the collectionDaphnis and Chloe
After Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, in collaboration with Antoine and Charles Coypel
Jean Ians and Jean Lefebvre (weavers)
Circa 1718-1720
Manufacture des Gobelins, Paris
Wool and silk
A - The Births
327 x 261 cm
FGA-AD-TEXT-0024
B – The Grape Harvests
321 x 265 cm
FGA-AD-TEXT-0025
C – Daphnis and the Goats
334 x 257 cm
FGA-AD-TEXT-0026
D – The Wedding
330 x 258 cm
FGA-AD-TEXT-0027
Provenance
Collection of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Collection of Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans, 1723, by inheritance
Garde-Meuble of the Palais-Royal, 1785 inventory
Hôtel Drouot sale, Paris, 15 May 1884
Collection of Jules Lowengard, Paris, circa 1900
Auction Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 10 June 1910, lots no. 18-21
Gaby Salomon Collection
Sotheby’s, London, 12 November 1965, lot no. 24
Private collection, Offenheim
Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January 2012, lot no. 2
The Daphnis and Chloe Cycle, a bucolic love story
Each of these tapestries illustrates, in five scenes, one of the four chapters of the ancient novel Daphnis and Chloe, written by the Greek Longus between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and translated into French in the mid-16th century by Jacques Amyot. Inspired by bucolic poetry, this novel recounts the thwarted loves and erotic apprenticeship of two young foundlings, the goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess Chloe, on the island of Lesbos.
The first episode, structured around the theme of The Births (ill. 1), is devoted to the discovery of the two children in the central scene, then in the four corner tableaux, to the growing feelings of love between the pair.1 The second tapestry, called The Grape Harvests (ill. 2), evokes their first difficulties at this time and their first separation due to the war.2 The third, Daphnis and the Goats (ill. 3), corresponds to the strengthening of ties between the two young shepherds in parallel with Daphnis’s erotic initiation with his neighbour Lycaenion.3 Finally, the fourth and last episode (ill. 4), celebrates the wedding of the two lovers after their recognition by their respective parents, both of elevated social rank.4
Compositions by the Regent Philippe II of Orléans
This cycle represents the incomplete transposition of a series of twenty-five paintings believed to have been produced by Philippe II of Orléans in 1714-1715 in collaboration with Charles Coypel under the direction of his father, Antoine. The Regent, a keen collector of French, Venetian, and Bolognese5 painting, wanted to study art from the young Charles, then aged around twenty, and his appointed First Painter. While his contemporaries recognized a considerable level of talent on an amateur level, the real authorship of these paintings remains under debate.6
Initially embedded in the woodwork decor of the study and reception room of his wife, Françoise-Marie of Orléans, at the Château de Bagnolet,7 this ensemble was transferred to the Château de Meudon during the French Revolution.8.
The panels having since disappeared,9 the tapestries of the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art respect the original distribution of the scenes, both large and small, within the woodwork. Each central scene appears in a large frame, rectangular in shape and scalloped in its upper section. The corner scenes are inserted into oval frames constructed by a series of curves and counter-curves (ill. 5), a style that became increasingly popular from the late 1710s onwards.
The intervals between these different tableaux are enriched with allegorical attributes evoking the pastoral life and hunting, with the distinctive hallmark of the high-warp workshop of Jean Ians, for the first two episodes, and that of Jean Lefebvre for the following two. This ornamentation, with bright and vivid colours, also recalls the approach later adopted by Charles Coypel in the tapestry known as The History of Don Quixote (high-warp workshop of Michel Audran, 1765-1768, Mobilier national, ill. 6), also woven at the Manufacture des Gobelins.
From wall to paper…
Created outside the official production of the Manufacture des Gobelins, the execution of the Daphnis and Chloe tapestry is believed to be the result of an initiative taken by the Regent’s wife, who was very enthusiastic about the Bagnolet compositions.10 Intended to decorate the Palais-Royal,11 this tapestry work emerged as a “sort of counterpoint to the martial and heroic values of the Aeneas Gallery,”12 brought to life by the brush of Antoine Coypel. These tapestries also constituted an indirect albeit unique testimony to the Regent’s pictorial practice and style, a weak equivalent, according to Piganiol de la Force, of that of Antoine Coypel’s lively and colourful productions.13 At the same time, they were part of an ensemble of works derived from the Bagnolet paintings, which contributed to the fame and dissemination of this cycle, all the while ensuring its perpetuation across various media.
Indeed, shortly before the execution of the tapestries, the paintings from the Château de Bagnolet had also served as models for the majority of the engravings executed by Benoît Audran for the famous illustrated edition of Daphnis et Chloé, referred to as the “Regent’s edition”, printed in 1717 and published in 1718 (ill. 9).14 If the frontispiece comes from a drawing by Antoine Coypel, each of the twenty-eight vignettes bears the dual mention “Philippus inv. and pinxit. 1714” and “Btus Audran sculp.” Furthermore, as with the tapestries, sixteen preparatory drawings by Benoît Audran, done in sanguine (Musée Condé, Chantilly, inv. FXI DE 449 to 464), allow us to better understand the original compositions by Philippe of Orléans, of which they respect the direction of reading (ill. 8).
The success of this illustrated edition, partly due to the Regent’s nefarious reputation, contributed to making Daphnis and Chloe a fashionable theme, giving rise to multiple interpretations, pictorial and decorative, musical and choreographic, well into the 21st century.
The ambiguities of the pastoral genre
The sequel to Daphnis and Chloe also reveals Philippe of Orléans’ predilection for the pastoral genre during the period 1715-1717, particularly in the work of Antoine Watteau.
Although begun in the second half of the 17th century, the revival of this genre has long been perceived as a translation of the loosening of morals symptomatic of the Regency, through the presence of gallant and even ribald connotations. The explicitly erotic dimension of some of the Regent’s compositions—mostly removed from the selection of the twenty scenes selected for the final tapestry—undoubtedly resonates with such an interpretation.
However, such a celebration of the pastoral world also participates, more broadly, in the promotion of another vision of the world. It offers, in contrast to contemporary corruption, fuelled by greed, avarice, and ambition, the ideal of a simple, innocent, and happy bucolic lifestyle, reminiscent of that of early humanity. Such promotion therefore, takes on a certain, albeit ambivalent political connotation through the utopian celebration of a golden age. Conceived more as a horizon than as an object of nostalgia,15 it accompanied the aspiration of the Regency elites for a form of renewal.
According to Guillaume Glorieux, the pastoral thus emerged as a subtle political critique of the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, darkened by war, famines, and economic crises.16 Within a decor intended for the Palais-Royal, like the tapestry of Daphnis and Chloe, it could also appear, in a less subversive way, as the cement of court society, by advocating a form of ideal order, and by implicitly valorising the image of a sovereign “as a king and protector of peoples, and symbol of the unity of the kingdom”.17
Variants of the Regent’s compositions for Daphnis and Chloe within the context of wall decorations and illustrated books certainly contribute to the complexity of the meanings associated with the deceptive lightness of the subject matter.
Dr Fabienne Fravalo
Curator of the Decorative Arts Collection
Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, December 2023
This text is a longer modified version of the text written for the catalogue of the collection (Fravalo, Fabienne (ed.), The Decorative Arts (I), Sculptures, Enamels, Maiolicas, and Tapestries. Geneva: Fondation Gandur pour l’Art; Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2020, text by F. Fravalo p. 76-77.)
Notes and references
- The cartouches overhanging the different scenes bear the following inscriptions: “The Births”; “Daphnis and Chloe deliver Dorcon from their hounds”; “Chloe makes away with Daphnis’ clothes while he is bathing”; “Chloe bathes in the nymphs’ Cave”; “Chloe saves Daphnis with the sound of her flute”.
- Cf. the inscriptions visible on the cartouches: “The Grape Harvests”; “Cupid appears to Philetas in his Garden”; “War subject”; “Daphnis admires the sleeping Chloe”; “Chloe carried off by the soldiers of Methime”.
- Cf. the inscriptions visible on the cartouches: “Daphnis and the goats”; “The Return of Chloe”; “Childhood of Daphnis and Chloe”; “The mutual vows”; “Daphnis seeks a way to see Chloe”.
- Cf. the inscriptions visible on the cartouches: “The Wedding”; “The Recognition of Daphnis”; “The pardon of Gnathon”; “The regrets de Chloé surprised by Lapè”; “The Recognition of Chloe”.
- Mardrus, Françoise. “Philippe d’Orléans collectionneur” in Cahiers Saint Simon, vol. Philippe d'Orléans, no. 34, 2006, p. 22-34.
- The future Regent undoubtedly produced sketches, touched up by Antoine Coypel and his young son Charles, who taught the Regent painting. See Garnier, Nicole. Antoine Coypel (1661-1722). Paris: Arthena, 1989, p. 38; Lefrançois, Thierry. Charles Coypel, peintre du roi (1694-1752). Paris: Arthena, 1994, p. 145.
- Inventory carried out following the death of Louis of Orléans, the son of Philippe of Orléans, in 1752, cited in Fenaille, Maurice. État général des tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours, 1600-1900. Dix-huitième siècle. Première partie: 1699-1736. Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1904, p. 287.
- Baron Roger de Portalis. Les Dessinateurs d’illustrations au xviiie siècle. Paris: Morgand et Fatout, 1877, cited in Fenaille, Maurice. État général des tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins…, p. 288.
- Two of them recently reappeared on the art market: The Wedding of Daphnis and Chloe, oil on canvas, 176 x 193 cm, Sotheby’s sale, Monaco, 5 December 1991, lot no. 119 and Daphnis leads his Goats with the sound of his Flute, oil on canvas 187 x 209, Galerie Marty de Cambiaire, Paris, in 2015 (cf. Faroult, Guillaume. L'Amour peintre. L'imagerie érotique en France au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Cohen & Cohen, 2020, note 399, p. 512).
- Correspondance complète de Madame, duchesse d’Orléans, née princesse Palatine, mère du Régent…, ed. trans., and annotated by Pierre-Gustave Brunet, Paris, 1855, vol. 1.
- Inventaire des papiers et registres dans le bureau de M. Chastellain, 2 August 1755, cited in Fenaille, Maurice. État général des tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins…, p. 283.
- Faroult, Guillaume. L'Amour peintre. L'imagerie érotique en France au XVIIIe siècle, p. 114.
- Garnier, Nicole. Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), p. 38; Grivel, Marianne. “Le Régent et Daphnis et Chloé” in Cahiers Saint Simon, vol. Philippe d’Orléans, no. 34, 2006, p. 36-37.
- Grivel, Marianne. “Le Régent et Daphnis et Chloé”, p. 38.
- Glorieux, Guillaume. “Watteau, le Régent et les implications idéologiques du style pastoral” in Favreau, Marc; Glorieux Guillaume; Luis Jean-Philippe, and Prevost-Marcilhacy, Pauline (ed.). De l’usage de l’art en politique. Clermont-Ferrand: Presses universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2009, p. 37-44.
- Ibid.
- Françoise Dartois-Lapeyre. “La dimension utopique de la pastorale” in Dix-huitième Siècle, no. 35, 2003, L’épicurisme des Lumières, p. 486. This interpretation is also expressed by Guillaume Faroult in L’Amour peintre…, p. 114-117.
Bibliography
Dartois-Lapeyre, Françoise. “La dimension utopique de la pastorale” in Dix-huitième Siècle, no. 35, 2003, L’épicurisme des Lumières, p. 467-486.
De Los Llanos, José; Jardat, Ulysse (ed.). La Régence à Paris (1715-1723): l'aube des Lumières, exhibition catalogue [Paris, Musée Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris, 19.10.2023-25.02.2024], Paris, Paris Musées, 2023, p. 88-89; 146-147; 242-243.
Faroult, Guillaume. L'Amour peintre. L'imagerie érotique en France au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Cohen & Cohen, 2020, tapestry cited p. 114, repr. p. 116, ill. 56.
Fenaille, Maurice. État général des tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours, 1600-1900. Dix-huitième siècle. Première partie: 1699-1736. Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1904, tapestry cited p. 283-291, b&w repr. plate.
Fravalo, Fabienne (ed.). The Decorative Arts (I), Sculptures, Enamels, Maiolica, and Tapestries. Geneva: Fondation Gandur pour l’Art; Milan, 5 Continents Editions, 2020, label (by F. Fravalo), p. 76-77, repr. p. 78-81.
Garnier, Nicole. Antoine Coypel (1661-1722). Paris: Arthena, 1989, cited p. 38.
Göbel, Heinrich. Wandteppiche II. Teil. Die romanischen Länder. Leipzig: Verlag von Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1928, FGA-AD-TEXT-0026 (The Grape Harvests) cited v. 1 p. 174, b&w repr., v. 2 n. p. no. 160.
Glorieux, Guillaume. “Watteau, le Régent et les implications idéologiques du style pastoral” in Favreau, Marc; Glorieux Guillaume; Luis Jean-Philippe, and Prevost-Marcilhacy, Pauline (ed.). De l’usage de l’art en politique. Clermont-Ferrand: Presses universitaires Blaise Pascal, 2009, p. 37-44.
Grivel, Marianne. “Le Régent et Daphnis et Chloé” in Cahiers Saint Simon, vol. Philippe d’Orléans, no. 34, 2006, p. 35-50, cited p. 36-37.
Hourcade, Philippe. “Philippe d'Orléans mécène et artiste” in Cahiers Saint Simon, vol. Philippe d’Orléans, no. 34, 2006, p. 7-8.
Mardrus, Françoise. “Philippe d'Orléans collectionneur” in Cahiers Saint Simon, vol. Philippe d’Orléans, no. 34, 2006, p. 22-34.
Vittet, Jean. Les Gobelins au Siècle des Lumières. Un âge d'or de la manufacture royale. Paris: Swan éditeur, 2014, FGA-AD-TEXT-0027 (The Wedding) cited p. 287, col. repr. p. 286, no. 204.
