The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Louis XIII, King of France (b. 1601, r. 1610-43)

Art Object

Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Watch a demonstration of Queen Marie Antoinette's Automaton playing one of eight melodies it can perform.

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).

View a full documentary featuring this object: 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

Louis XIII, King of France (b. 1601, r. 1610-43)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Date:: 1610
Culture:: French
Medium:: Bronze, brown patina
Dimensions:: H. 2 1/4 in. (57 mm.); W. 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.)
Classification:: Medals and Plaquettes
Accession Number:: 36.110.30

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 532

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: (below tranche of shoulder on obverse) G DVPRE F 1610

Inscription: Obverse: (in margin) LVDOVIC[us].XIII.D[ei].G[ratia].REX.CHR[istianissimus].GALL[iae].ET.NAVAR[rae].HENR[ici].MAGNI.FIL[ius].P[ius].F[elix].AVG[ustus]. (Louis XIII, by the grace of God most Christian King of France and of Navarre, son of Henry the Great, pious, happy, august); reverse: (in margin) ORIENS.AVGVSTI.TVTRICE.MINERVA (The King grew up under the tutelage of Minerva); (in exergue) ANN[o].NAT[ivitatis.CHR[isti]. /CIO . IOCX (In the year [since] the birth of Christ, 1610).
Provenance

Henry Oppenheimer (until 1936; sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, July 29, 1936, no. 316; sold to MMA)
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)

Patina (368)
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
Pastoral Charms in the French Renaissance

Ceramics in the French Renaissance

France, 1600–1800 A.D.

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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Louis XIII, King of France (b. 1601, r. 1610-43)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

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Louis XIII, King of France (b. 1601, r. 1610-43)

Medalist: Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store