Seasons and Elements (Spring) (set of four)
Medium
Canvas; silk, wool, and metal-thread embroidery in tent stitch (316 stitches per sq. inch, 49 per sq. cm.)
Dimensions
L. 164 x W. 108 inches (416.6 x 274.3 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Embroidered
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.43.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the radiant "Seasons and Elements (Spring one of a lavish set of four embroidered panels created around 1683 in Paris. Designed by court painter Charles Le Brun—Louis XIV's premier artist and head of the Gobelins manufactory—in collaboration with Jean Lemoyen Lorrain, this masterpiece was likely commissioned for Françoise-Athénaïs de Montespan, king's influential mistress. It exuberantly captures spring's bounty: blooming roses and tulips, graceful women amid fruits, birds, insects, sheep, and flowers, evoking renewal and abundance in the grand Baroque style of Versailles. Crafted on c...
About the Artist
Charles Le Brun|Jean Lemoyen le Lorrain|Marquise de Montespan · 1619–1690
Charles Le Brun (1619–1690) was the most powerful artistic figure in seventeenth-century France, serving as the virtual dictator of official taste during the reign of Louis XIV and shaping the visual identity of the French Baroque in ways that resonated for generations. Born in Paris, he trained under the painter Simon Vouet before traveling to Rome in 1642, where he studied the works of Nicolas P...