The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Young Saint John the Baptist

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) 10679 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16910 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3027 views

Young Saint John the Baptist

After an imitation of Desiderio da Settignano (Italian, Settignano ca. 1430–1464 Florence)

Date:: possibly 15th century
Culture:: Italian (Florence) (?)
Medium:: Stucco
Dimensions:: H. 28-3/4 in. (73 cm.)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913
Accession Number:: 14.40.686

This artwork is not on display

Provenance

Martelli Family ; Marchese Diego Martelli (last descendant) ; Maurice Kann ; Edouard Kann ; [ Joseph Duveen , 1910; sold to Altman ] ; Benjamin Altman (1910–13; bequeathed to MMA)
See also
Who
Desiderio da Settignano (3)
What
Sculpture (24,354)

Figures (5,015)

Reliefs (3,156)

Plaster (842)

Busts (555)

Stucco (294)
Where
Europe (150,013)

Italy (24,981)

Tuscany (1,231)

Florence (564)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,619)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Florence and Central Italy, 1400–1600 A.D.

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

Young Saint John the Baptist

After an imitation of Desiderio da Settignano (Italian, Settignano ca. 1430–1464 Florence)

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

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Young Saint John the Baptist

After an imitation of Desiderio da Settignano (Italian, Settignano ca. 1430–1464 Florence)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store