Information
11-YEAR-OLD LOUIS XV INSTRUCTED BY MARS & MINERVA
[ALMANAC - WALL PRINT]. Louis XV Instruit dans l'Art Militaire par Mars et Minerve. ... Almanach pour l'Année M. DCC. XXI.
Paris, François-Gérard Jollain, [1720]. Large, wholly engraved wall print (80 x 53 cm plus the caption at the foot) including an almanac for the year 1721, with 1 large and 5 smaller scenes of events from the year 1720. Printed from two copperplates on two large sheets.
| Orders and Information | € 3500 |
Spectacular engraved allegorical wall print and almanac, dominated by a scene of the eleven-year-old King Louis XV, who was to remain in his regency until 1723, on horseback being trained in the art of war by Ares (Mars) and Athena (Minerva), while four female allegorical figures representing virtues look on: La Force, La Constance, La Liberalite and La Clemence. The background shows Louis's troops assembled for review beside their tents at Charenton-le-Pont and La Pleine des Sablons, outside Paris. An elaborate cartouche below the main scene and four more at the top left and right show scenes from the year 1720, mostly events in the young king's life. The choice of an allegorical scene for the main image (instead of the usual more specific event of the year) my have been governed by the fact that the most notable event of the year was deemed unsuitable: the bursting of the Mississippi speculative bubble that threatened to ruin the French economy. The title for the whole print appears on drapery hanging from the trumpet of an angel hovering at the head of the print, while the almanac itself appears on hanging drapery at the foot, with its title above it.
Around 1660 several French engravers in Paris's Rue St. Jacques introduced large wall almanacs in this style, including the Jollain family. Until about 1712 the almanac itself was printed letterpress, either on or pasted over a blank space left for the purpose in the print. In the present example the almanac is incorporated into the engraving itself, at the foot, giving the whole a more uniform treatment.
In very good condition, with only a small tear at the upper right corner, slightly affecting the corner of one cartouche. A magnificent wall print and almanac, portraying Lousi XV with allegorical figures from classical antiquity.
