The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Orpheus and Eurydice

Art Object

David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Watch this surprising video of an automaton play the dulcimer.

David Roentgen (1743–1807) took his royal patron by surprise when he delivered this beautiful automaton to King Louis XVI for his queen, Marie Antoinette, in 1784. The cabinetry for this piece is very much a neoclassical masterwork, and the mechanism behind it is truly extraordinary: the figure strikes the strings in perfect rhythm with two small metal hammers held in her hands, which move with great precision.

This object, from the Musée des arts et métiers de Paris, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

See the full video: http://www.cerimes.fr/le-catalogue/la-joueuse-de-tympanon.html

Footage courtesy of CERIMES.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10583 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16547 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3012 views

Orpheus and Eurydice

Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)

Date:: probably modeled before 1887, carved 1893
Culture:: French, Paris
Medium:: Marble
Dimensions:: Overall (confirmed): H. 48 3/4 x W. 31 1/8 x D. 25 3/8 in. (123.8 x 79.1 x 64.5 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910
Accession Number:: 10.63.2

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 800

Description

Originally modeled for The Gates of Hell, where it was apparently intended to illustrate a poem from Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, this group was abandoned by Rodin in the final version of The Gates but given a second existence under the present title. The figure of Eurydice is recognizable as that of the Martyr and exemplifies Rodin's propensity for exploring the multiple interpretations of a single form.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: Signed and dated (on left edge of background rock): A. Rodin/1893
Provenance

Charles T. Yerkes (until 1910; sale, American Art Association, New York, January 22, 1910, no. 251); [ sale, American Art Association , New York, April 11–13, 1910, no. 251; sold to Ryan ] ; Thomas Fortune Ryan , New York (in 1910; to MMA)
See also
Who
Auguste Rodin (179)
What
Sculpture (24,350)

Marble (2,128)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Paris (2,025)
When
A.D. 1800-1900 (80,185)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917)

France, 1800–1900 A.D.
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Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)

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David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

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Orpheus and Eurydice

Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store