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- 1. Louis Roucel (active between 1763 and 1787) and Louis-Nicolas Van Blarenberghe (1716-1794)
Duke of Choiseul’s Miniature Box, 1770-1771
Gold and miniatures on gouache mounted in a crystal cage - 8 x 6 x 2.4 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo : rights reserved - See the image in its page
It is sometimes difficult to write an article about the entry into the collections of a work that we have already spoken about extensively here and that is finally acquired through a fundraising. What more can we say than: "the fundraising was a success", which is not really a piece of information because fundraising, which is only launched if the amount necessary for the purchase is certain, is always a success. Unless I am mistaken, we are not aware of any fundraising that has failed, and certainly not when it concerns a national treasure or a work of major heritage interest (which in both cases give rise to a 90% tax deduction for companies).
Thus, two "works of major heritage interest" have finally been purchased in the last few days: the Christ by Giovanni Pisano, which was bought by the Musée de Cluny, was the subject of a news item on February 21, which allowed us to say once again that antique ivory objects, and in particular medieval ivories, must be able to be freely traded.
The second, the miniature box of the Duke of Choiseul, which was coveted by the Louvre (see the news item of 3/11/22), was also acquired by this museum thanks to the fundraising "Tous Mécènes [1], Rembrandt’s The Standard Bearer, which the Rijksmuseum lends in turn to several Dutch museums and which is currently on view at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht (ill. 2 to 4).
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- 4. Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669)
The Standard Bearer (detail), 1636
Oil on canvas - 118.8 x 96.8 cm
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
It bears repeating: the renunciation of this purchase is a major fault - it is not the only one - that will taint Roselyne Bachelot’s short time at the Ministry of Culture. Contrary to what one may have read here or there, the very high price of this painting would not have cost the French taxpayer a single euro: it corresponded exactly to the amount paid by Abu Dhabi to be able to use the name of the Louvre for a few more years. Selling what costs us nothing to acquire such a masterpiece was the only thing to do. That a country with a GDP three times lower than France’s was able to mobilize so easily to buy it says more about the cultural decline of our country than all the political speeches.