DescriptionIn an effort to correct the French balance-of-trade deficit, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, superintendent of finance to Louis XIV, banned imported luxury goods, and he established new industries and encouraged existing manufactories to produce substitutes worthy of royal patronage. The most ambitious project for the Savonnerie Manufactory was Louis XIV's commission for ninety-three carpets to cover the nearly 500-yard length of the Long Gallery of the Louvre. All but one of the original carpets were completed by 1685. Ten more were woven later to replace those given as royal gifts or for future presents. "Music" is a reweaving of the design of a carpet given to the king of Siam in 1685.

 

The individual compositions—which had to harmonize with each other as well as with the stuccowork, painted ceiling, and landscape decorations of the walls—reflect Le Brun's supervision and his forceful classicism. At either end of this carpet, figures of Music are depicted in grisaille in imitation of bas-relief sculpture. Other references to the antique include rams' heads, the outer border motifs, and the acanthus scrolls that fill the interstices or become cornucopias of flowers and fruit. Royal imagery of crossed L's, dolphins, fleurs-de-lis, crowns, and a sunflower dominates the

 

center.