Fireplace Plaque Allegory Of The False Rumor Stifled, Louis XV - 18th Century (104x83 Cm)

Fireback cast during the first half of the 18th century, Louis XV period, depicting a wyvern or guivre ridden by a jester who has torn out its tongue and threatens it with his own disproportionate tongue. Allegory of false rumor stifled, of fallacious rumor annihilated. The scene in a cartouche, adorned with garlands of flowers, is flanked by a play of acanthus scrolls. An animated frame, placed on lion paws, reserves in its upper corners, two faces topped with a pileus (ancestor of the Phrygian cap) representing winged Odysseus, tutelary figure of the rumor-monger, the cruel and cunning demagogue. Our last two photos: - Engraving entitled "Draconis Alati figura ex Parco" taken from the iconographic corpus of Ulysses Aldrovandi, famous naturalist philosopher and Bolognese doctor, (1522-1605), preserved at the University Library of Bologna, Natural History in 13 volumes, published between 1599 and 1668, whose wooden matrices are preserved at the Museum di Palazzo Poggi in Bologna. - Head of Ulysses wearing a pileus, represented on a coin from Ithaca from the 3rd century BC. It should be noted an insignificant crack in the lower part. Plaque found in the Oise. Its weight is 154 kg. Bibliography: CARPENTIER H., Plaques de cheminées, Tome premier, F. DE NOBELE, Paris, 1967, p. 144, No. 322. Sources: - Le bruit qui vole, Francis Larran, Presses universitaire du Midi, ch. III, p. 225-247. https://books.openedition.org/pumi/11973?lang=fr- https://bbcc.regione.emilia-romagna.it/pater/loadcard.do?id_card=208922- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/UlysseThanks to Stephen Kinloch-Pichat for sharing his knowledge. You can visit our website: www.claudeaugustin.com