Spandrel Decoration: Fame and Truth Applauding Louis XV
Classification
architecture
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1911-28-8
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
François Boucher’sSpandrel Decoration: Fame and Truth Applauding Louis XV” captures the spirit of mid-eighteenth-century French decorative art. Created in 1753, the work was designed to fill the curved triangular space of a spandrel—an architectural element often found above arches in grand interiors. Boucher, a leading figure of the Rococo movement, specialized in elegant, light-hearted compositions that adorned royal residences and public buildings during the reign of Louis XV. The subject celebrates the French monarch through allegory: the figures of Fame and Truth raise their voices in pr...