this is the former display of the French Crown Jewels in the Apollo's Gallery of the Louvre, as it was a few years ago.
The Apollo's Gallery went into renovation for several years, and now the glassed case displays only the crowns (Louis XV, Napoleon I/Charles X, Empress Eugénie) and some other jewels minor in size, but important in history: the drake-shaped 'Côte de Bretagne' spinel (the oldest piece of the French Crown Jewels, dating back to the Renaissance), the 'Eagle of Poland' (a white-enamelled eagle-shaped brooch with a large central spinel), a diamond-framed portrait of Louis XIV, and an enamelled Elephant for a bejewelled decoration of the Danish Order of the Elephant:
There has been, in the meantime, a new display case installed in another section of the Louvre (near the 19th century 'State Apartments'), for some of the jewellery pieces of the 19th century:
But I find this display case quite weird and unsatisfying. It is a rather small case, strangely located at the end of a narrow and gloomy corridor, in front of which only a few people can stand. The light in the case is yellowish, which does not do justice to the jewels. And last but not least, the case is too small, so only four jewels are on display: the Duchess of Angoulême's emerald tiara, the Duchess of Angoulême's ruby bracelets, Empress Eugénie's pearl tiara (once in the Thurn-und-Taxis collection) and Empress Eugénie's large diamond bow brooch. But, the 'Regent' diamond, Queen Marie-Amélie's sapphire parure, Empress Joséphine's pearl drop earrings, Empress Marie-Louise's emerald parure (minus the tiara, which is in Washington DC), as well as other beautiful pieces, are somewhere in the Museum's reserves...
--Previous Message-- : Breathtaking !! : : : : --Previous Message-- : Hello Beth1, : : as another example of artistic licence, I : have in mind this portrait by Jean-Baptiste : Isabey of Marie-Louise of Habsburg-Lorraine, : Empress of the French (as second wife of : Napoleon I) and later reigning Duchess of : Parma. Isabey has depicted the Empress with : a ruby parure... which is actually an : emerald and diamond parure! : : : : The necklace and the earrings of this parure : are now in the Louvre Museum in Paris : (though not on display, unfortunately), : whereas the tiara (with the emeralds : replaced with turquoises) is in the : Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. : : : : : : I have seen the necklace and earrings in the : Louvre a few years ago (when they were still : on display in the Apollo's Gallery of the : Museum), and they are just simply gorgeous! : A beautiful Empire design, beautiful intense : green emeralds of the highest quality... It : is beyond perfection! : : More information about this parure on : Ursula's website: : : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/napoleon-marie-louise.htm : : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise.htm : : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise-2.htm : (I think the portrait on this webpage was : digitally colorized to make the stones : green) : : : http://www.royal-magazin.de/french/emerald-marie-louise-3.htm : : : : : --Previous Message-- : Sully's portrait of the young Queen Victoria : has drawn my attention to how artistic : licence can make it difficult for those : interested in royal jewels to identify : specific jewels with certainty from : paintings, or questions might be posed as to : whether the jewel had been reset. : See : : : : http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus;jsessionid=6D4E1DCE187BAB140E98650CC9C801B1.node1?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.t1.collection_detail.$TspImage.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SelementList&sp=0&sp=0&sp=999&sp=SdetailView&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F : While Queen Victoria is wearing what is : obviously the diamond diadem, the artist's : rendition is different from the actual jewel : and might cause confusion to those who were : unfamiliar with it. : Do others know of portraits where artistic : licence might cause confusion or make : identification problematic? For example in : the recent post I did about Annigoni's study : of the Queen Mother wearing her Greville : emerald necklace and earrings, those : unfamiliar with the set might ponder if she : was wearing that demi-parure. : : : : : : : :
on August 25, 2014, 7:15 pm, in reply to "
