HISTORICAL COMMEMORATIVE TABATIÈRE PAINTED ALL FACES, THE UNION OF FLUVIAL ALLEGORIES, 18th century

TECHNIQUE: Oil painting

ARSTIST: Ecole Vénitienne

SIGNED:

FRAME : Tabatière painted on all sides lined with brown tortoiseshell, gilded copper mounted.

PORTRAIT SIZE:

FRAME SIZE: 8,5x4cm

DESCRIPTION :

Large box painted on all faces.

The lid shows the union of two river allegories pouring in the sea.

The one, male, having a ream in the hand, symbolize a navigable river. The other, feminine, is accompanied by a lion and a cheetah. Both have uppon them , an eagle carrying  Love armed with its bow and  arrows, Love which we find, overflying the sea, under the snuff box.

Sides are decorated with seaside scenes.

The pictorial technique and the stylistics of drawing could make date this miniature of the XVIIIeme century, maybe in Italy (venitian). Only the resolution of the complex symbols of the river allegories in the 18th.century, could allow an exact dating by the evoked event : union of two continents or two countries, two cities, two families ...

Our hypothesis : maybe an allegory of the Treaty of Campo-Formio ( 1797 ). The union (Love) under the aegis of Napoleon (Eagle) of Austria (symbolized by the Danube, the male allegory) and of Venice ( the lion) and its river : la Brenta ( feminine allegory).


CONDITION: Very good condition. Cleaned by Dr. Bernd Pappe.

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