ORThe Open Room
Digital gallery
Back to the NGA collection
This is a drawing of an allegorical scene depicting marriage. The artwork shows figures, predominantly cherubs and mythological beings, engaging in a celebration under a grand architectural structure with columns. The top portion includes cherubs holding an ornate oval frame and other cherubs in flight, while the central figures are reclining amidst flowing drapery. At the bottom, more cherubs and classical musical instruments are scattered, creating a sense of festivity. The use of line and form creates a theatrical atmosphere, highlighting the allegorical nature of marriages as a ceremonious event.
Read the visual description

This is a drawing of an allegorical scene depicting marriage. The artwork shows figures, predominantly cherubs and mythological beings, engaging in a celebration under a grand architectural structure with columns. The top portion includes cherubs holding an ornate oval frame and other cherubs in flight, while the central figures are reclining amidst flowing drapery. At the bottom, more cherubs and classical musical instruments are scattered, creating a sense of festivity. The use of line and form creates a theatrical atmosphere, highlighting the allegorical nature of marriages as a ceremonious event.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Allégorie des mariages faits par la ville de Paris à la naissance du duc de Bourgogne (Allegory of the Marriages Performed by the City of Paris in Honor of the Birth of the Duc de Bourgogne in 1751)

Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin

Date
1751
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed within platemark): 16.4 × 12.3 cm (6 7/16 × 4 13/16 in.)
Classification
Print
Accession number
1958.8.145
Credit line
Rosenwald Collection
Time span
1751 to 1775
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • Angel
  • French
  • architecture
  • child
  • portrait
  • Musical instrument
  • Figures
Provenance

Jean-Louis Soulavie (1752-1813), Paris (Lugt 1533)

Inscription

recto: in plate, in image, at lower left: No 600 / dot 300 [on sheet of paper]; in plate, in image, at lower right: G de S aubin invenit [on smoothing plane]; in plate, below image: ALLEGORIE DE MARIAGES FAITS PAR LA VILLE / de paris. à la naissance de mgnr le duc de bourgogne en 1751; verso: at lower right in graphite in later hand: DV II

Marks

recto: Jean-Louis Soulavie (Lugt 1533); verso: National Gallery of Art

Watermarks

none

NGA object ID 45790. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.