Watch
Watchmaker: Jean Romilly
Case maker: Jean-Pierre Huaud, known as the younger Huaud Swiss
Case maker: Ami Huaud Swiss
Not on view
The story of Roman Charity, as recounted in Book IX of De Factis Dictisque Memorabilis by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus, was well known in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. As a representation of filial piety, it was the subject of many paintings, including several by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). The origin of the version used by the Huauds is not known, and the female figure of Pero, who breastfed her incarcerated father, Cimon, in order to save him from starvation, may in fact record a living model. The watchcase was one of the Huaud’s more popular designs, probably as much for its liberal exposure of feminine flesh as for the moral of the story.
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