Verdures du Vatican, c.1799 (woven silk and metal thread with embroidery) Date: ca. 1799 Medium:...

Woven (by Camille Pernon 1753–1808) silk and metal thread with applied silk and chenille embroidery Part of a major decorative commission, they were intended to decorate the Billiard Room of the Casita del Labrador in Aranjuez, the rural pleasure palace built for King Charles IV of Spain 1791-1803. The central embroidered landscapes, based on paintings of the countryside surrounding Arunjuez, were probably applied after the panels were delivered to Spain. Dugourc, who was raised at Versailles, was named dessinateur du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne in 1784. From 1786 he also worked for the decoration of a number of rooms at the Casita del Labrador. These panels are a strong statement of his eclectic use of motifs, in this case taken from Raphael's decorations for the Vatican Loggia, which were in turn inspired by Roman wall paintings. These two unused panels in pristine condition convey the daring color of Dugourc's scheme in a way that the faded panels preserved in situ at Aranjuez cannot.