Decoration Executed for the Birthday of His Majesty the King of Westphalia France, 19th century

Decoration Executed for the Birthday of His Majesty the King of Westphalia

1811

Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri

(French, 1782–1868)

France, 19th century

Pen and black ink and watercolor with graphite; heightened with white gouache on off-white wove paper

Support: Cream wove paper, hinged to decorative multi-ply face mount

Sheet: 32 x 42.3 cm (12 5/8 x 16 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 44 x 53.2 cm (17 5/16 x 20 15/16 in.)

Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.341

Location: not on view

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Description

A scenic designer for the Paris Opera, Cicéri created this decoration for a performance celebrating the birthday of Emperor Napoleon’s brother, Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia, a vassal state of territories taken from Prussia and its allies. Antoine-André Bruguière, named in the inscription as the commissioner of the decoration, was Westphalia’s secretary of the ministry of war and the superintendent of theaters in Kassel, the state’s capital city. The title of the special performance is unknown, but the triumphal arch, Corinthian columns topped with vases, and classical statues all suggest a Roman theme.