Pair of sconces

Pair of sconces

1581-82 (sockets)

Former Royal collection (1561); assigned by Henri III to the Treasury of the Order of the Holy Spirit

Rock crystal, gilded silver, pearls, garnets

H. 32 cm; Diam. 12 cm

Department of Decorative Arts

Paris

c. 1530

The Treasury of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit

The Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit was founded by Henri III on December 31, 1578, and endowed with a treasury comprised of two groups of objects: twelve objects made prior to the creation of the Order, taken by Henri III from the Royal collections where they were described in 1561 (amongst which the enameled gold reliquary and the two angel reliquaries in gilded silver and rock-crystal – all three from Anne de Bretagne – on display in the Louvre’s medieval rooms); and ten objects in gilded silver made under Henri III’s reign, between 1579 et 1585.

 

When the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit was abolished by Louis-Philippe in 1830, the treasury, of which all but a large rock-crystal and gilded silver processional cross had survived intact, was given to the Louvre. The collection is capital for two reasons: it affords a glimpse of the Valois’ collection of “objets d’art” in the 16th century, of which little remains

Done