The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Nicolas Brulart de Sillery, Chancellor of France (1544?-1624, Chancellor of France 1607)

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) 10549 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16461 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3008 views

Nicolas Brulart de Sillery, Chancellor of France (1544?-1624, Chancellor of France 1607)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Date:: 1613
Culture:: French
Medium:: Bronze
Dimensions:: Diam. 2 3/4 in. (70 mm.)
Classification:: Medals and Plaquettes
Credit Line:: Bequest of Gwynne M. Andrews, 1931
Accession Number:: 31.33.23

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 532

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: (below tranche of shoulder on obverse) G.DVPRE.F.; (incised on tranche of shoulder) 1613

Inscription: Obverse: (in margin) NI[colaus].BRVLARTVS A SILLERY FRANC[iae].ET.NAVAR[rae] CANCEL[larius] (Nicolas Brulart de Sillery, chancellor of France and of Navarre); reverse: (in margin) LABOR.ACTVS.IN.ORBEM (The work of the world sets forward).
See also
Who
Guillaume Dupré (26)
What
Metal (59,364)

Sculpture (24,350)

Copper alloy (16,630)

Bronze (11,628)

Medals (3,076)

Plaquettes (2,085)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Ceramics in the French Renaissance

Pastoral Charms in the French Renaissance

France, 1600–1800 A.D.

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

Nicolas Brulart de Sillery, Chancellor of France (1544?-1624, Chancellor of France 1607)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

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

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Nicolas Brulart de Sillery, Chancellor of France (1544?-1624, Chancellor of France 1607)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store