Six Painted Panels

The artist who painted these panels paid close attention to details, realistically rendering birds, figures, and musical instruments. Though the artist is unknown, the panels’ decoration gives a clue to their origin. One panel is painted with the monograms MJL and LSX – the initials of the comte and comtesse de Provence, the brother and sister-in-law of Louis XVI. These silk panels, decorated with vases, cherubs, and garlands of flowers, may have been installed in one of the rooms of the Château de Montreuil, where the comte and comtesse lived. Alternatively, the panels may have been the model for larger, not-yet-discovered wooden panels that were installed in the house. Carved and painted wood paneling covered the walls in many public rooms of elegant homes in the 1700s.