Frieze or Dado: La Constance
1785/90
Medium
Block-printed, color on paper
Dimensions
76.4 × 101.8 cm (30 1/16 × 40 1/16 in.)
Classification
wallpaper
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
13475
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of 18th-century French interiors with *Frieze or Dado: La Constance*, created by Jean Baptiste Réveillon around 178590. This block-printed panel, measuring 76.4 × 101.8 cm, exemplifies the height of luxury decorative arts. As a frieze (top border) or dado (lower panel), it would have adorned the walls of grand salons, transforming rooms into immersive neoclassical fantasies with its vibrant colors and intricate motifs—likely featuring allegorical scenes of steadfastness, evoking virtues prized in Enlightenment-era France. Réveillon, a pioneering wallpaper manufactu...
About the Artist
Jean Baptiste Réveillon · 1725–1811
Jean-Baptiste Réveillon (1725–1811) rose from humble apprenticeships as a tradesman, haberdasher, and stationer in Paris to become the preeminent French wallpaper manufacturer of the 18th century. Marrying advantageously, he leveraged his wife’s dowry to experiment with velvet paper production. In 1753, amid growing demand among the bourgeoisie for affordable luxury, Réveillon began importing and ...