Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.313
People
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, French (Paris 1724 - 1780 Paris)
Title
Allegory of the Marriages Performed by the City of Paris in Honor of the Birth of the Duc de Bourgogne
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Allégorie des Mariages faits par la ville de Paris à la naissance de le Duc de Bourgogne
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1751
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/318174

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Etching
Dimensions
Image: 15.4 × 12 cm (6 1/16 × 4 3/4 in.)
Plate: 16.8 × 12.9 cm (6 5/8 × 5 1/16 in.)
Sheet: 20.2 × 15.5 cm (7 15/16 × 6 1/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r.: G. de St Aubin fecit
  • inscription: l.l., in plate: no 600. Dot. 300l.
  • inscription: l.r., in plate: G. de St Aubin fecit
  • inscription: lower margin, in plate: Allegorie des Marriages faits par la ville / de paris, a la naissance de mgr le duc de bourgogne en 1751

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
iii/iii
Standard Reference Number
Dacier 86; Baudicour, vol. I, no. 5, p. 104

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Nesta and Walter Spink
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.313
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
The painter, draftsman, and printmaker Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin studied with François Boucher and exhibited and taught at the Académie de Saint-Luc. Much of his work chronicles daily Parisian life. He also etched a series of allegorical prints such as this one. The subject matter refers to the celebrations surrounding the birth of the grandson of Louis XV, the Duc de Bourgogne. Louis XV provided 300 livres each for the dowries of 600 of the less fortunate girls of Paris (the inscription in the lower left corner of the print reads "no. 600. Dot. 300l."). The marriages took place throughout churches of Paris on November 9, 1751. Saint-Aubin's allegory depicts Venus seated at the upper right, just below an oval portrait of the young Duke which is held by several putti. Venus is overseeing the transfer of coins from the City of Paris to Hymen, the winged god of marriage. These floating figures are surrounded by a group of putti, who are lighting their torches from the torch held by Hymen. Pont-Neuf and Notre-Dame may be seen in the distant background.

Publication History

  • Perrin Stein, Artists and Amateurs: Etching in 18th-century France, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2013), cat. 36, p. 70 [not Harvard impression, related bibliography]

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu