A quintain
Maker
(artist)
1521-1599
1521-1599
Title
A quintain
Date of Production
(circa) 1575 - 1580
Medium
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour (now oxidised and black in several areas) on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines, laid down on a historic support
Dimensions
Height: 32.7 cm
Width: 48.1 cm
Width: 48.1 cm
Accession Number
D.1955.WF.4647
Mode of Acquisition
Witt Fund, purchase, 1955
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
quintains
Label Text
This scene records one of the lavish entertainments hosted by Catherine de’ Medici, demonstrating royal magnificence at the French Court. In the game known as quintain riders try to break a spear in the mouth of a dragon fixed upon a stave. Placed on a pivot, it could whirl around and strike the assailant himself. Numbered “4” at bottom centre, Caron’s highly stylized drawing served as a preparatory design for the set of eight Valois Tapestries (Uffizi, Florence) considered to be among the finest wall hangings of the Renaissance.
Provenance
W. Thomson, junior; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 12 September 1955; purchased there, with the Witt Fund, by The Courtauld Institute Galleries, 29 September 1955 (£60).
Exhibition History
Antoine Caron. The Theatre of History, Musée National de la Renaissance - Chateau Ecouen, 01/04/2023-01/07/2023
The Valois Tapestries, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 18/11/2018-10/02/2019
Antoine Caron: Drawing for Catherine de Medici, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/01/2018-15/04/2018 ...More
Drawings Gallery Display - Renaissance Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/04/2015-07/06/2015
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
Drawings from the Witt Collection, University of Southampton, 16/02/1970-04/03/1970
Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966
Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1965
La Vie théâtrale au temps de la Renaissance, Institut Pédagogique National, Paris, 1963
A selection of drawings from the Witt collection: French drawings c. 1600-c. 1800, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1962
Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 01/09/1960-01/10/1960 ...Less
The Valois Tapestries, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 18/11/2018-10/02/2019
Antoine Caron: Drawing for Catherine de Medici, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/01/2018-15/04/2018 ...More
Drawings Gallery Display - Renaissance Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/04/2015-07/06/2015
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
Drawings from the Witt Collection, University of Southampton, 16/02/1970-04/03/1970
Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966
Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1965
La Vie théâtrale au temps de la Renaissance, Institut Pédagogique National, Paris, 1963
A selection of drawings from the Witt collection: French drawings c. 1600-c. 1800, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1962
Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 01/09/1960-01/10/1960 ...Less
Literature
Francastel, Pierre, 'Figuration et spectacle dans les tapisseries des Valois' in 'Les fêtes de la Renaissance', Paris 1956 - pp. 101-103
p. 102
Ehrmann, Jean, 'Dessins d'Antoine Caron pour le tapisseries des Valois' in 'Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de l'Art Français', November 1956
no. 4 on pp. 119-20
opp. p. 16
Art Quarterly, Spring 1958
ill. ...More
Ehrmann, Jean, 'Drawings by Antoine Caron for the Valois Tapestries in the Uffizi Florence' in 'Art Quarterly', 1958 - pp. 47-65; XXI
p. 55
Yates, Frances, The Valois tapestries, London 1959
pp. xxv, 3-5, 55-56, 59, 62, 66, 69-80
Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 1960
cat. no. 68
La Vie théâtrale au temps de la Renaissance, Institut Pédagogique National, Paris, 1963
cat. no. 139
no. 139 on p. 82
G.L. Conran, Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1965
cat. no. 293
Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966
cat. no. 23
pl. VII
Ehrmann, Jean, Antoine Caron: Peintre des fêtes et des massacres, Paris 1986
pp. 195-96
fig. 170 on p. 194
Groër, Léon de, Les tapisseries des Valois du Musée des Offices à Florence, 1987 - pp. 125-34
pp. 125-34
Old Master Drawings from the National Gallery of Scotland, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1990-1991, 1990
p. 120
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 9, p. 26
ill. on p. 27 (b&w) and np (colour)
mentioned also in no. 8, p. 24
Borne, François, 'Excellence in obscurity: French drawings at the Courtauld Institute of Art' in 'Apollo', September 1991 - pp. 192-94; CXXXIV, 355
p. 192
Antoine Caron: Drawing for Catherine de' Medici, Courtauld Gallery 2018 London, Paul Holberton 2018, 84
pp. 28, 39, 52
cat. 6, pp. 53, 54
Hueber, Frédéric, Antoine Caron: peintre de ville, peintre de cour 1521-1599, Tours, Presses universitaires François Rabelais de Tours; Rennes, Presses unversitaires de Rennes 2018
p. 282, no. 18.4
Fig. p. 282
Beaufils, Oriane and Vincent Droguet (eds.), L'Art de la Fete a la Cour des Valois, Chateau de Fontainebleu 2020
pp. 106-148
Gottardo, Ketty, 'Antoine Caron (1521-1599): Le théatre de l'histoire', The Burlington Magazine, July 2023, pp. 2784 - 787. ...Less
p. 102
Ehrmann, Jean, 'Dessins d'Antoine Caron pour le tapisseries des Valois' in 'Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de l'Art Français', November 1956
no. 4 on pp. 119-20
opp. p. 16
Art Quarterly, Spring 1958
ill. ...More
Ehrmann, Jean, 'Drawings by Antoine Caron for the Valois Tapestries in the Uffizi Florence' in 'Art Quarterly', 1958 - pp. 47-65; XXI
p. 55
Yates, Frances, The Valois tapestries, London 1959
pp. xxv, 3-5, 55-56, 59, 62, 66, 69-80
Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 1960
cat. no. 68
La Vie théâtrale au temps de la Renaissance, Institut Pédagogique National, Paris, 1963
cat. no. 139
no. 139 on p. 82
G.L. Conran, Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art 1520-1600, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1965
cat. no. 293
Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966
cat. no. 23
pl. VII
Ehrmann, Jean, Antoine Caron: Peintre des fêtes et des massacres, Paris 1986
pp. 195-96
fig. 170 on p. 194
Groër, Léon de, Les tapisseries des Valois du Musée des Offices à Florence, 1987 - pp. 125-34
pp. 125-34
Old Master Drawings from the National Gallery of Scotland, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1990-1991, 1990
p. 120
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 9, p. 26
ill. on p. 27 (b&w) and np (colour)
mentioned also in no. 8, p. 24
Borne, François, 'Excellence in obscurity: French drawings at the Courtauld Institute of Art' in 'Apollo', September 1991 - pp. 192-94; CXXXIV, 355
p. 192
Antoine Caron: Drawing for Catherine de' Medici, Courtauld Gallery 2018 London, Paul Holberton 2018, 84
pp. 28, 39, 52
cat. 6, pp. 53, 54
Hueber, Frédéric, Antoine Caron: peintre de ville, peintre de cour 1521-1599, Tours, Presses universitaires François Rabelais de Tours; Rennes, Presses unversitaires de Rennes 2018
p. 282, no. 18.4
Fig. p. 282
Beaufils, Oriane and Vincent Droguet (eds.), L'Art de la Fete a la Cour des Valois, Chateau de Fontainebleu 2020
pp. 106-148
Gottardo, Ketty, 'Antoine Caron (1521-1599): Le théatre de l'histoire', The Burlington Magazine, July 2023, pp. 2784 - 787. ...Less
Inscriptions
Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, graphite: “4”; lower centre edge brown ink: “4.”. Support (historic), Recto: lower right corner, graphite: “III”. Support (historic), Verso: left of centre, graphite: “16/15”; lower left edge, brown ink, obscured by some tape: “2 n 43 [?]”; lower right, graphite, Colnaghi number: “A 21083 Hx”.
Collector's mark: none.
Collector's mark: none.
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