A Michel Dorigny decoration at Port-Marly town hall

Preserved 17th-century French painted decorations are sufficiently rare not to mention all those that can still be seen, particularly when they are preserved in public buildings.
Although the one we are talking about here is well known to specialists, it is hardly known to other enthusiasts despite its obvious beauty and interest. It is indeed an oil decoration on mounted canvases, executed by Michel Dorigny, Simon Vouet’s son-in-law, pupil and collaborator. Probably removed from its original location in the 19th century, it was reinstalled in the current marriage hall on the first floor of the Port-Marly town hall, not far from Saint-Germain-en-Laye (ill. 1 and 2).

1. Michel Dorigny (1616-1665)
Decoration of the alcove and base of one of the vaults, 1647-1648
Port-Marly, Town Hall, Wedding Room
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

2. Michel Dorigny (1616-1665)
Decoration of one of the vaults, 1647-1648
Port-Marly, Town Hall, Wedding Room
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

First published in the Bulletin de la société de l’histoire de l’art français in 1978 by Jean Feray and Jacques Wilhelm [1] under the name of Simon Vouet, and dated before 1634, the work was returned to Michel Dorigny and its execution postponed to 1647-1648 by Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, again in the same review, this time in 1984 [2]. The art historian (who is currently working in collaboration for Arthena on the catalogue raisonné of Simon Vouet) based her opinion in particular on the style, closer to that of the pupil than that of the master, on a print showing a group visible in the decor (ill. 3 and 4) and on a drawing kept at the Rijksmuseum under the name of Simon Vouet (ill. 5 and 6) but which she attributed without a shadow of a doubt to Michel Dorigny, because of his ‘sharp, circled treatment’.

3. Michel Dorigny (1616-1665)
Bacchanal with a Satyr and a Nymph Carrying a Basket of Fruit
Print
Washington,…