Mural design picturing riders in a landscape for a lunette in the library of the Chateau de Lude (Sarthe)
second half 19th century
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Overall: 10 3/8 x 14 7/8 in. (26.3 x 37.8 cm) frame: 4 5/8 x 10 7/8 in. (11.8 x 27.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.132
Tags
Art Historical Context
This enchanting mural design, created by French artists Jules-EdmondCharles Lachaise andène-Pierre Gourdet in second half of the th century, captures riders galloping through a picturesque landscape. Intended for a lunette—a curved wall space—in the library of the Château Lude in Sarthe, France, it exemplifies the opulent decorative arts of the era. Château de Lude, a castle in the Loire Valley region, was a grand residence where such murals adorned intimate yet stately interiors, blending artistry with aristocratic leisure. Painted in oil on canvas, this modest 10⅜ × 14⅞-inch preparatory ske...
About the Artist
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...