Jean-Louis Delignon / Sigmund Freudenberger, La félicité villageoise, 18th century, France
Graphic, 11 x 12 cm.
Eighteenth-century print by Jean-Louis Delignon, a pupil of Nicolas de Launay, a prominent French engraver and illustrator who became a royal engraver in 1789 (he died in 1792). The print is based on a drawing by Swiss artist Sigmund Freudenberger.
Decorative graphic-miniature: the medialion features a genre scene, depicting "Rural Joy/Royal Pleasure": in the center is an embracing couple, the woman is holding a letter (document?), which the man is reaching for, making them in a somewhat ambiguous pose. Watching them from the side is another woman, perhaps a servant/mother - next to her is a small child, playing with a kitten, lying in a cradle. The entire scene is highlighted in blue and red, as is the floral motif surrounding the medallion at the top. On the lower part, imitating the base of the statue, is a royal monogram and a description: LA FELICITE VILLAGEOISE / Gravé d'après le Dessin de Freudenberger / Par Delignon / à Paris chez De Launay / Rue et Porte St Jacques No 112. In the medallion at the center of the base a royal (?) monogram. Around the monogram symbols of war, including cannons, on the barrel of the cannon on the right side barely visible inscription: "Ultima ratio regnum" (The king's last argument - the inscription that Cardinal Richelieu had engraved on the royal cannons).
Condition of the engraving very good, minimal color "soiling" in the lower left corner (original, created when the engraving was colored by hand?). Contemporary binding, paper border imitating frame damaged on one side (peeled off).
