Suger’s eagle, Egypt or Imperial Rome (porphyry vase),
Saint-Denis (setting), before 1147. Porphyry, silver gilt,

niello, 43.1 x 227 cm. From the Saint-Denis treasure.

Musée du Louvre, Paris.

 

 

We cannot discuss this period without stopping a moment for the Italian artists and saying a word of the Renaissance. And this is the proper place to do so, this transformation of art in Italy is the work of the goldsmiths; sculptors, even painters, handled precious metals. But after a long struggle between the Gothic influence, which came from France, and that of the antiquity, the latter prevailed and naturally carried along the newcomers toward the works of sculpture, architecture and high-class decoration. Because of this, early examples of Italian goldsmith work are virtually non-existent. We must come to the 16th century in order to find in Cellini the real history of the condition of art when he first made his appearance and to judge of what it became through his influence.

France, in our opinion, has not received credit for its fair share in the movement. Despite what it took from the antique, France provided the Renissance with an irrefutable personal style. French art of this period may then be classed into two distinct divisions: that of the Italians who were brought into France by the great nobles who were soon absorbed by the taste of the country; and the national school which drew whatever suited its temperament from antiquity and foreign productions. Unfortunately, it is not easy to offer practical demonstrations of these facts due to the limited number of monuments still in existence.

In order to give a correct idea of the condition of the goldsmith’s art under Louis XIV, we must first put jewellery aside, which, too, underwent a transformation; the delicacies of art were replaced by the lavish display and costliness of precious stones and pearls. The goldsmith-made art showed through the disastrous end of this reign in the abundance of metal and the amplitude of its forms. Cardinal Mazarin had silver andirons and brasiers, crystal chandeliers and mirrors ornamented with plates of gold and silver. Towns presented their governors with large basins, candlesticks and ewers chased by the celebrated artists of the period. The Lescots were the initiators of the style; however, the person who realised the ideal splendour dreamed of by Louis XIV was Claude Ballin, of whom Paul Mantz says so pertinently, was in harmonious keeping with the group of artists who worked for the king. “He gives his hand to Le Brun; he speaks the language of the brothers Marsy of Mansard, of Le Notre.” Charles Perrault, in his Hommes Illustres, says that there were by him, tables of such exquisite carving, and so admirably chased, that the material, massive silver though it was, hardly constituted one-tenth of their value: there were cressets, and large pedestals, some eight or nine feet in height, for supporting candlesticks or torches, large vases for holding oranges, and great bowls for carrying them about; basins, chandeliers, mirrors, all of such splendour, elegance and good taste in workmanship that they perhaps seemed to give a more correct idea of the grandeur of the prince who had had them made.