The Grotesque Months and their Zodiacal Counterparts at the Hôtel de Lunas, a set designed around 1710–1715

 

The set of ‘Chinese-style’ red lacquer decorative pieces at the Hôtel de Lunas is unique in France. The early date of its creation, thought to be around 1710–1715, as well as its exclusively Western iconography, sets this décor apart from the traditional chinoiserie of the early^18th century. The technique used for these panels does raise a few questions. Indeed, ‘Chinese-style’ lacquer remained a rare process in the early^18th century for furniture or décor, although a few examples are known in France and Antwerp. In Paris, the patent for the ‘Chinese-style’ process was not registered until 1713. It therefore seems unlikely that such a set could have been commissioned by a private individual outside the capital, given that the number of artists capable of producing such panels was very limited.

The fashion for arabesques took off towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign, spurred on by the engraver and ornamentalist Jean Berain (1640–1711). Berain drew his inspiration from the paintings unearthed during excavations of the Domus Aurea – ancient frescoes known as ‘grotesques’, a term derived from the word ‘grotte’, meaning ‘cave’ or ‘underground excavation’. These motifs had already inspired many artists of the Italian Renaissance, but in France they enjoyed success through Jean Berain, Claude Gillot (1673–1722), Claude Audran III (1658–1734) and Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721).

The ‘grotesque’ months at the Hôtel de Lunas are distinctive in that they are paired with their zodiacal counterparts, in the finest medieval tradition which associates the twelve signs with the twelve months of the year, as seen in the sculpted decorations of religious buildings. This tradition lives on in the religious devotions of the ‘hours’, celebrated every day and throughout the seasons. The secular world has also embraced this tradition, notably through tapestries depicting the signs of the zodiac and the months of the year via rural scenes or depictions of court life.

At the Hôtel de Lunas, the red-lacquered panels were designed with oil paintings on canvas depicting the astrological signs, set against an almost entirely gilded background, centred around a central medallion representing the sign, of exceptional pictorial quality, with its acanthus scrolls and mascarons. Decorative alterations carried out in 1840–1842 have obscured the original interpretation, in that some panels were moved and some of the zodiac signs were lost.

Nevertheless, the original figurative arrangement can easily be reconstructed:

January: feasts and games, and the sign of Aquarius – a panel which is now missing. A monkey-roaster and a cook playing the violin with his spit and grill already herald the Carnival. This ‘monkey kitchen’ can be linked to an early design by Claude Audran III for the ‘singeries’ at Marly in 1709 (Stockholm, Nationalmuseum).

 

 

February: dancing and the sign of Pisces. The two figures on stage embody, on the one hand, Carnival, with its mask, and, on the other, Lent.

 

 

 

Mars: war and the sign of Aries. Renown, trophies of arms and intertwined banners are depicted, creating an unmistakable symbol of warfare. The two horsemen are reminiscent of depictions of the wars waged by Louis XIV, immortalised by Jean-Baptiste Martin the Elder, known as Martin de Batailles, or Pierre-Denis Martin the Younger, known as des Gobelins, or van der Meulen.

 

 

 

April: Flora and the sign of Taurus. A portico, topped by a fine spider’s web, shelters the goddess. Two faun figures carrying a canephorus frame a young woman in the process of arranging a bouquet.

 

 

 

May: Maia, the Queen of May, holding a bouquet of flowers, is a figure from antiquity.

 

 

 

June: the two horses in the lower register of the scene are a fairly accurate reproduction of a series depicting the Royal Stables of Don Juan of Austria, engraved by Jan van der Straet around 1578.

 

 

 

July: Apollo’s mask, surrounded by rays of light, crowns the month of July.

 

 

 

August: Virgo August Ceres, with her sickle and sheaf of wheat, stands above a large circle within which two snakes are entwined, in reference to pagan antiquity.

 

 

September: the grape harvest and the sign of Libra. Along a ladder, cupids flit about, bringing fruit to be pressed to two satyrs; the whole scene evokes our modern-day comic strips, in which different ‘planes’ of the action coexist and interact as the story unfolds, from top to bottom.

 

 

 

October: the hunt and the sign of Scorpio. A shrub forming a wreath around a trophy featuring a deer’s head, antlers and hunting rifles.

 

 

November: music and the sign of Sagittarius

 

 

 

December: ice skating and the sign of Capricorn, a painting now missing. The terrace is decorated with a fountain featuring frost patterns. The skaters seem to have stepped out of the Commedia dell’arte and are reminiscent of the work of Watteau, a young collaborator of Claude Audran III.

 

 

The decorative ensemble, in the section devoted to the ‘grotesque months’, has been likened to the work of Claude Audran III, an ornamental painter whose influence on interior design is significant. Claude III Audran was the eldest son of Germain Audran, an engraver and himself the son of the engraver Claude I Audran. His output spanned all disciplines: textiles (embroidery, church vestments), Savonnerie tapestries, carriages, harpsichords and other decorative projects.

Claude III Audran is distinguished by his arabesque designs, which feature in series with traditional symbolism—such as the triumphs of the gods or the twelve months of the year—whilst emphasising their stylisation. The prints used to create the wall hangings for the Bishop’s chamber at the Château Neuf in Meudon, now held at the INHA library, display an iconographic arrangement comparable to that of Lunas: each month is associated with a Roman deity surmounted by a sign of the zodiac; in the lower register, animals or allegorical figures evoke the attributes of the deity.

Germain Brice writes of him in his *Description de Paris*, 1752 edition: ‘Claude Audran is rightly regarded as one of the foremost draughtsmen ever to have appeared, in the fields of arabesques and grotesques. These are compositions of light, pleasingly arranged ornamentation, which were in use in antiquity and were revived by the famous Raphael.” Furthermore, Claude Audran was a member of a company specialising in Chinese-style lacquerwork, which he left in 1715. He nevertheless continued to produce lacquerwork until 1730 (in 1720 and 1729 for the Palais du Luxembourg, in 1729 at Fontainebleau, in 1730 at Bercy, for the Count of Ons-en-Bray).

Nevertheless, in Lunas’s panels, an extremely delicate and light touch is at work, with a marked naturalistic expressiveness, but also an undeniable Italian influence, which cannot be entirely compared to the ‘model’ prints then in circulation, such as those by Claude Audran. Lunas’s work, with its great finesse, is thus highly atypical and can legitimately be compared to the work of Antoine Watteau. A comparison with a series of prints illustrating Watteau’s work in the arabesque genre is illuminating (*Les Arabesques de Watteau. Decorative panels, screens and trophies engraved by Boucher, Paris, [1912]*). Here we find the ‘double scene’ composition—which becomes a triple scene in Lunas’s panels—along with the role of trophies and arabesque foliage, as well as classical motifs, all executed with a light touch and featuring figures from the commedia dell’arte.

The design crowning the allegory also bears a strong resemblance to the arabesque screen panels held at the Louvre: the lightness of the drawing has, in fact, little in common with the models proposed by Claude Audran III, whilst bearing great similarities to Watteau’s drawings.

Audran did indeed benefit from Watteau’s assistance whilst working on his commission forthe ‘Grotesque Months’ for Meudon, as evidenced by a drawing by Watteau held at the Albertina in Vienna. It was upon leaving Claude Gillot, sometime in 1707, that Watteau probably entered the service of Claude III Audran at the Palais du Luxembourg. Audran entrusted him with part of the decoration of the Château de la Muette, a project made known through the engravings reproduced in *Trente figures chinoises*, published in the *Mercure Galant* in July 1731.