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Chimneypiece (cheminée)

After a design by Jean Le Pautre French
ca. 1665–70
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 531
The designer and engraver Jean Le Pautre (1618-1682) who published his bold and sculptural decorative fantasies, is credited with the dissemination of the Louis XlV style. This prolific and versatile artist worked for the Crown and his prints were intended to spread the new style and stimulate the imagination of sculptors and decorators not only in Paris but also in the Provinces.

This monumental chimney piece with its elaborately carved hood originally stood in the Château du Chay in Chérac on the west coast of France and was most probably carved by a local master. One of the plates in Le Pautre’s series entitled Cheminées à la Romaine of circa 1663, shows the basic design for the piece (see accession number 33.84(1)). The identity of the young man in the medallion has not been established: could he be a family member or is the image merely a classicizing bust? It has been suggested that the features bear a certain resemblance to those of the young Louis XlV which could explain the flying putto bearing a crown.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Chimneypiece (cheminée)
  • Artist: After a design by Jean Le Pautre (French, Paris 1618–1682 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1665–70
  • Culture: French, Chérac
  • Medium: Limestone
  • Dimensions: 158 x 98 in. (401.3 x 248.9 cm.)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Architectural
  • Credit Line: Gift of The Hearst Foundation, 1956
  • Object Number: 56.234.34
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Oeuvres, Vol. I, Jean Le Pautre French, Etching
Oeuvres, Vol. I
Multiple artists/makers
17th century
Ceiling decoration with a central square flanked by olive branches, from Desseins de Plaphons, plate 3, in A Bound Collection of Print Series Including Cheminées et Lambris, Alcoves à la Romaine, Feuillages et autres ornemens..., etc.
Multiple artists/makers
1751
Title Page depicting a panel of ornament with two female figures flanking a bust at right with cornucopias, from Panneaux d'ornement, plate 1, in A Bound Collection of Print Series Including Cheminées et Lambris, Alcoves à la Romaine, Feuillages et autres ornemens..., etc.
Multiple artists/makers
1751
Title Page depicting an antique bust in a medallion supported by two cherubs, from Ornements de panneaux à la romaine, plate 1, in A Bound Collection of Print Series Including Cheminées et Lambris, Alcoves à la Romaine, Feuillages et autres ornemens..., etc.
Jean Le Pautre
Charles Antoine Jombert
1751
Title Page depicting a frieze with a medallion of Hercules and the Nemean Lion at upper right, from Frises et ornements à la moderne, plate 1, bound in Oeuvres. Vol. IV
Jean Le Pautre
Pierre Mariette le fils
17th century

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