Some observations upon 'The French Parnassus' - II

'Mount Parnassus', arch set at the Fontaine Saint-Gervais in occasion
of the entry of Louis XIV and Maria Teresa of Austria in Paris,
and celebrating their wedding, 1660.

The theme of the Parnassus was frequently used in the arts as a metaphor for poetry and inspiration.
The word ''Parnassus" in the title of a book was almost a synonym for "collection of poems", like in Le Parnasse satyrique (1622) where Théophile de Viaud collected the best of licentious poems of his time, or Le Parnasse divin (1653) by Monsieur de Clermont, a priest from Toulouse - a strange collection of philosophical and christian poetries, with love sonnets dedicated to Madame de Marnac, a Clarisse nun.

Philippe Quinault - Publications & News

Philippe Quinault

Philippe Quinault was a dramatist who composed libretti for Jean-Baptiste Lully's works. Together, they created the French opera, established the genre and led it to its highest expression.
Two books dedicated to Philippe Quinault have been released this year. The first one, by William Brooks in January and the second one by Buford Norman in June.

- BROOKS, William, Philippe Quinault, Dramatist, Oxford, Bern / Berlin / Bruxelles / Frankfurt am Main / New York / Wien, Peter Lang (Medieval and Early Modern French Studies), 2009, 512 p.
ISBN 9783039115334

- NORMAN Buford, Quinault, librettiste de Lully - Le Poète des Grâces, CMBV-Mardaga, 2009, 383 p.
ISBN 9782870099957
This is the French translation, completed and updated, of Touched by the Graces: The Libretti of Philippe Quinault in the Context of French Classicism), published by Summa Publications, 2001.

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There is also a NEW WEBSITE dedicated to Quinault by Buford Norman. You can find it here, and it's in French.
If you can't read French but are interested in the French Parnassus monument, you'll find a picture of the Quinault medallion by Simon Curé.

Some observations upon 'The French Parnassus' - I

Du Tillet's Parnassus combined elements from two traditions. While the title refers to mount Parnassus, the monument shows Pegasus strinking the earth with his hoof and causing the Hippocrene to well forth. The myth of Pegasus and the Hippocrene are related to mount Helicon, not to mount Parnassus.

Mingling details or symbols from various proveniences was common at that time. The symbols were the words of an allegorical language. They were used to deliver a powerful contemporary message, they were not meant to be a faithfull illustration of the myths of Ancient Greece.

'The French Parnassus' - History and Description

The French Parnassus - etching by Tardieu

Du Tillet wanted to celebrate the great poets and musicians of the time of Louis XIV. What he had in mind was a huge monument, with larger-than-life statues, that he would place in the middle of a garden or in a square.

The monument would represent mount Parnassus with laurels and palm trees, and feature Louis XIV/Apollo on the top and, below him, the Graces, madame de la Suze, madame des Houllières and mademoiselle Scudéry, holding garlands of flowers.

On a lower level, the Muses : Corneille, Molière, Racan, Segrais, La Fontaine, Chapelle, Racine, Boileau, and Lully holding a portrait of Quinault. Other artists would appear on medallions hanging on the trees or held by winged Genies : Marin Marais, Campra, Michel de La Lande, Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, André Destouches, J.B. de Lully (Lully's son), and Colin de Blamont...

Some other 160 names of writers and musiciens would appear on six phylacteries. One would be entirely dedicated to the musicians : the Gaultier, Chambonnière, Cambert, Henri Dumont, Michel Lambert, Pierre Gautier, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Pascal Colasse, Guillaume Minoret, J.-B. de Bousset, Théobalde, Jean-François Lalouette, Sébastien Brossard, J.-B. Senaille, Salomon, J.-L. Marchand, François Couperin, J.-B. Moreau, Nicolas Bernier, Michel de Monteclair, Jean-Joseph Mouret, Jean-François Dandrieu, Henri des Marets, Michel de La Barre, Charles Gervais, Jean Matho, Jean-Fery Rebel, Forqueray, Bertin, Lacoste, Nicolas Clérambault, Th.-Louis Bourgeois, Grenet, Jacques Aubert, Joseph-Nicolas Royer, Antoine Calvière, Joseph de Boismortier, J.-B. Stuck....
A phylactery would name past and present sponsors and music lovers, like Charlemagne, François 1er, Louis XIII, Philippe d'Orléans, Emperor Charles VI, Charles-Armand-René de la Trémouille, marquis de Brassac, comte d'Eu, Madame Adélaïde (as a violin player), Madame Victoire (as a harpsichord player).... One would be dedicated to women famous in the art of singing : Hilaire, Saint Christophe, Rochois, Le Froid, Chappe, De Lalande... and another one to the famous female harpsichord players : Certain, Perron, Guyot, La Plante, du Hallai & Dandrieu...

Du Tillet, helped by Nicolas de Largillière as artistic advisor for the portraits, contracted the sculptor Louis Garnier to built up the monument. In 1718, an intermediate-sized model was cast in bronze, but building the full-size monument was very costly and Du Tillet had to find sponsors. To promote his project and raise founds, he commissioned an etching (see the illustration above).

In 1727, as he hasn't yet managed to get enough money and thought maybe he would unable to bring his project to a successful conclusion, he published a Description du Parnasse françois, exécuté en bronze, followed by a Liste alphabétique des Poètes et Musiciens rassemblés sur ce monument.
In 1732 there was a second edition titled Le Parnasse françois, enlarged with notes on the life of various musicians and poets. Additional notes were published in 1743 and 1755.

Titon du Tillet died in 1762 without having seen his dream come true. The bronze model was given to Louis XV by Du Tillet's heir and nephew. During the 19th century it was kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale but, as it was taking too much place, they decided to send it to Versailles where it was dismantled and neglected for a long time. Many of the small pieces (medallions and phylacteries) disappeared. The work is now part of the collection of the Musée de l'Histoire of the Château de Versailles where it can be seen.

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From June 30 to September 27, 2009, 'The French Parnassus' will be in Los Angeles, still part of the exhibition Cast in Bronze : French Scultptures from Renaissance to Revolution, at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Evrard Titon du Tillet & The French Parnassus

The French Parnassus monument was created by the scultptor Louis Garnier, but Garnier only did what he was told to do. The author of the project was Evrard Titon du Tillet.

Evrard Titon du Tillet was born in Paris on January 16, 1677.
His father, Maximilien Titon, seigneur d'Ognon, was a counsellor to the Parlement of Paris. Evrard studied law and became a lawyer, but his father wanted him to be a soldier.
In 1697 he was captain of a Dragoon Regiment when peace left him unemployed. He bought the position of maître d'hôtel at the duchesse de Bourgogne's (Louis XV's mother). In 1712, the duchesse died and Evrard lost his job. He got back to the army, as a superintendent of the War.
He had started his French Parnassus in the years 1708 and it became a lifelong project.
Evrard died in Paris on december 26, 1762.

'The French Parnassus' at the MET

I named a Yahoo! group and my blog after that work.
I'll give the story of the project and a complete description of the monument in a next post.

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The French Parnassus
Louis Garnier (ca. 1638–Paris, 1728);
Medallions by Simon Curé (ca. 1680–Paris, 1734);
Later additions by Augustin Pajou (Paris, 1730–Paris, 1809)Paris, 1718–1721; Pajou additions, 1762 and 1777
Bronze group; 102 3/8 x 92 1/2 x 90 9/16 in. (260 x 235 x 230 cm)
Versailles, Musée National de Versailles, MV 6023

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Exhibition :
Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution
February 24, 2009–May 24, 2009
MET - Special Exhibition Galleries, 1st floor