Panel of Arabesques for the Hôtel de Salm, Paris
Medium
ornament
Classification
ornament
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1911-28-219
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Panel of Arabesques the Hôtel de Salm Paris* (1785) was crafted by Jean-Guillaume Moitte, a French sculptor and engraver1746–1810) working in the neoclassical style. Designed as ornamental decoration for the grand Hôtel de Salm—a lavish neoclassical mansion on the Seine, built in the early 1780s for the Count of Salm—it exemplifies the era's fascination with elegant, flowing motifs inspired by antiquity. Arabesques, with their intricate intertwining vines, foliage, and fantastical elements, were a hallmark of French decorative arts, blending rococo playfulness with neoclassical...