Charles Henry Tenré
View of the Swiss Pond and of the Versailles Orangerie, c. 1904,
Oil on canvas signed lower right "Henry Tenré "
This decorative panels was inspired by his tenture compose of twelve tapestries and eight entrefenêtre designed by Charles Le Brun, produced by the Gobelins Manufactory and woven with gold thread and wool for King Louis XIV. In the past, this tenture was hung in the Palace of Versailles and in the Palace of Marly. It consisted of twelve tapestries, one of each month of the year, each representing a royal residence and of eight entrefenêtres of smaller size.Read more
The twelve royal chateaux are flanked by two ionic columns decorated with garlands of flowers or fruits. To each royal residence correspond an astrological sign and a month of the year. At the center of the portico, a royal cartouche holds the astrological sign Taurus for the month of April. Not all tapisseries still exist.
He combined the view of the Palace of Versailles taken from across the Swiss Pond, on the West side, with the sign of Taurus for the month of April. Henry Tenré also represented from behind the Equestrian Statue of Louis XIV as the ancient Roman hero Marcus Curtius (1671-1688), by the sculptors Le Bernin and François Girardon, erected since 1702 south of Swiss Pond. The original sculpture was replaced by a replica and placed in the Versailles Orangery.
Our artwork available
93400 Saint-Ouen sur Seine