Painting & Illumination

Aesop Fables - 9 ceiling panels

Description

c. 33 x 18cm

edges bevelled, part of a larger number which would have been placed, perhaps framed by a network of thin wooden beams, in the ceiling of a large villa. Small worm holes, re-varnished, excellent condition.

Commentary

These rare ceiling panels, drawn and painted in vivid colour in the Gothic manner, depict, in a purely pictorial rather than narrative manner, one of the most enduring of classical legacies: Aesop’s fables. These short tales, which expressed a pithy moral in the most accessible way by drawing upon familiar animals and flowers, lived on in the Middle Ages before being set to verse by La Fontaine in the 17th century.

A set of 6 panels from the same villa is in a private collection in Hamburg, three were lot 24 in Sotheby’s New York 26/5/1992, and another eight are in a private collection in Northern France. They were painted by a variety of artists and spanned a range of conventional motifs, from the decorative (flowers and portraits) to the emblematic as here.

One of the best known examples of this kind of work still in situ, from the 14th century, is in the cathedral of Frejus, Provence.

The first two fables seem complete with two panels each.

1.

The Crane and the fox, two panels depicting the two reversed moments that constitute the moral of the tale “Do unto others…”

At one time the Fox and the Stork were on visiting terms and seemed very good friends. So the Fox invited the Stork to dinner, and for a joke put nothing before her but some soup in a very shallow dish. This the Fox could easily lap up, but the Stork could only wet the end of her long bill in it, and left the meal as hungry as when she began. "I am sorry," said the Fox, "the soup is not to your liking." "Pray do not apologise," said the Stork. "I hope you will return this visit, and come and dine with me soon." So a day was appointed when the Fox should visit the Stork; but when they were seated at table all that was for their dinner was contained in a very long-necked jar with a narrow mouth, in which the Fox could not insert his snout, so all he could manage to do was to lick the outside of the jar. "I will not apologise for the dinner," said the Stork: "One bad turn deserves another."

2.

The Rose and the Amaranth, two panels with banderoles in medieval Italian, depicting, first the amaranth’s words to the rose “what a noble flower..”, and second the rose’s response “said the rose… lose myself…” from “The Rose and the Amaranth “. An Amaranth planted in a garden near a Rose-Tree, thus addressed it: "What a lovely flower is the Rose, a favorite alike with Gods and with men. I envy you your beauty and your perfume." The Rose replied, "I indeed, dear Amaranth, flourish but for a brief season! If no cruel hand pluck me from my stem, yet I must perish by an early doom. But thou art immortal and dost never fade, but bloomest for ever in renewed youth."

3.

Single panel depicting a running Hare, which could be part of one of the most famous fables, the hare and the tortoise in a race, or else the “The Hare and the Hound“ . A hound having started a hare on the hillside pursued her for some distance, at one time biting her with his teeth as if he would take her life, and at another fawning upon her, as if in play with another dog. The Hare said to him, "I wish you would act sincerely by me, and show yourself in your true colours. If you are a friend, why do you bite me so hard? If an enemy, why do you fawn on me?' No one can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust him.

4.

Single panel of an Eagle, probably from “The Eagle and the Arrow” An eagle sat on a lofty rock, watching the movements of a Hare whom he sought to make his prey. An archer, who saw the Eagle from a place of concealment, took an accurate aim and wounded him mortally. The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that had entered his heart and saw in that single glance that its feathers had been furnished by himself. "It is a double grief to me," he exclaimed, "that I should perish by an arrow feathered from my own wings."

5.

The Camel

When man first saw the Camel, he was so frightened at his vast size that he ran away. After a time, perceiving the meekness and gentleness of the beast's temper, he summoned courage enough to approach him. Soon afterwards, observing that he was an animal altogether deficient in spirit, he assumed such boldness as to put a bridle in his mouth, and to let a child drive him.

"Use serves to overcome dread."

6.

The Wasps, the Partridges, and the Farmer

The Wasps and the Partridges, overcome with thirst, came to a Farmer and besought him to give them some water to drink. They promised amply to repay him the favor which they asked. The Partridges declared that they would dig around his vines and make them produce finer grapes. The Wasps said that they would keep guard and drive off thieves with their stings. But the Farmer interrupted them, saying: "I have already two oxen, who, without making any promises, do all these things. It is surely better for me to give the water to them than to you."

7.

The Pomegranate, Apple-Tree, and Bramble

The Pomegranate and Apple-Tree disputed as to which was the most beautiful. When their strife was at its height, a Bramble from the neighboring hedge lifted up its voice, and said in a boastful tone: "Pray, my dear friends, in my presence at least cease from such vain disputings."

Literature