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Decoration for a Masked Ball at Versailles, on the Occasion of the Marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain (Bal masqué donné par le roi, dans la grande galerie de Versailles, pour le mariage de Dauphin, 1745)

1764, reprinted ca. 1860
Not on view
In 1745, the marriage of Louis XV's son was celebrated with a masqued ball held at the royal château at Versailles. The event was afterwards dubbed the Yew Tree Ball because the king and his attendants had arrived dressed as topiary yew trees. Cochin's engraving memorializing the celebration shows many of the attendees in Turkish and Chinese costumes. Visible in this detail are six gargantuan and massively turbaned Turks. Their exaggerated forms suggest the taste for exoticism, a vogue that reached its peak in Paris in the 1740s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Decoration for a Masked Ball at Versailles, on the Occasion of the Marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain (Bal masqué donné par le roi, dans la grande galerie de Versailles, pour le mariage de Dauphin, 1745)
  • Artist: Charles Nicolas Cochin I (French, Paris 1688–1754 Paris)
  • Artist: after Charles Nicolas Cochin II (French, Paris 1715–1790 Paris)
  • Date: 1764, reprinted ca. 1860
  • Medium: Etching with engraving
  • Dimensions: 18 3/4 x 30 1/4 in. (47.6 x 76.8 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1930
  • Object Number: 30.22(34.34)
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Dessein et decoration de jeu tenu par le Roi et la Reine dans la grande Gallerie de Versailles à l'occasion du second marriage de Mgr. le Dauphin
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Pompe funebre de Madame la Dauphine dan l'église de Notre-Dame de Paris, le 24 Novembre 1746
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Little Girl with Cherries, Charles Nicolas Cochin I French, Etching; first state of two
Little Girl with Cherries
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La Fontaine, Charles Nicolas Cochin I French, Etching and engraving; second state of three
La Fontaine
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The Young Soldier, Charles Nicolas Cochin I French, Etching and engraving
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