A Franco-Flemish double-manual harpsichord,
Possible Royal owners of the franco-flemish harpsichord
Louis XV, pastel by Maurice Quentin de la Tour, Paris, 1748 (left) and Madame de Pompadour, oil painting by François Boucher, Paris, c.1750 (right).
Both works are now in the Louvre, Paris.
Louis XV (left above) was portrayed by de la Tour just two years before the Blanchet ravalement of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord in 1750. Louis XV was a great patron of the arts and commissioned both François Boucher and Christophe Huet to complete a number of works for him, probably including the decoration of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord. It seems highly likely that he commissioned the painting of his petite maîtresse (minor mistress) Marie-Louise O'Murphy on the lid of The Franco-Flemish harpsichord around 1753 shortly after the first grand ravalement of 1750. Indeed who else, other than Louis XV himself, would have allowed the King's mistress to be painted on their harpsichord??
Madame de Pompadour (right above), Louis XV's grande maîtresse en titre (titular primary mistress), also commissioned numerous works of art, architecture, sculpture and design for the French court around the time that the Franco-Flemish harpsichord was ravalé in 1750. Basically she organised practically all of the activities of the French Court and particularly its domestic and social side. She even took painting lessons from François Boucher himself and harpsichord lessons from Jean-Philippe Rameau, considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François Couperin. In the portrait on the right above Madame de Pompadour is pictured in regal splendour with her left hand touching the keys of a harpsichord which is also placed on a high stand so that she doesn't have to bend over to touch the keys. She is known by historians as having been an excellent harpsichord player and she was, for example, a friend of Madame Anne-Jeanne Boucon de Mondonville (1708 -1780) who was a good musician and an excellent composer in her own right. One of the Pieces de clavecins en concert, 'La Boucon' by Rameau was dedicated to her. Madame de Pompadour was also a patron of Madame Anne-Jeanne's husband Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (1711–1772). Mondonville is known particularly as a composer of Grands motets, but also for his keyboard compositions. He championed the French style over le style italien which many felt was encroaching on and threatening the style of the French court. Mondonville was therefore well treated by both Louis XV and by Madame de Pompadour.
The harpsichord in the painting, on the right above, of Madame de pompadour by François Boucher
There are many similarities between the harpsichord in the painting on the right and the Franco-Flemish harpsichord. The instrument in the Boucher painting of Madame de Pompadour above is a clavesin ordinaire or a smaller-compass, single-manual harpsichord, and not a grand-ravalement double-manual 5-octave instrument. The roccoco decoration on the cheek of the harpsichord in gold vernis martin is very similar to the ornamental decorations attributed to Christophe Huet on the Franco-Flemish instrument. The stand seems identical. Mme. de Pompadour has her left arm slightly bent because the stand of the instrument in the painting - like the stand of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord - is higher than normal.
In 1750, around the time of the painting of Madame de Pompadour, the Franco-Flemish harpsichord would have had the compass F1 to d3 indicated by the number of jacks, the date 1750 on them and the number of slots in the registers. It would therefore have been considered as a clavesin ordinaire at least from this point of view. It would also almost certainly have had black, ebony-topped naturals with white bone-topped, black-stained sharps as seen in this painting. The present white keys were given to the instrument by Jacques Barberini or Nicolas Hoffman in the ravalement carried out in 1786. The keywell is painted a solid red colour which is probably vermillion. Unfortunately any trace of this red decoration would have disappeared when the nameboard was replaced in the second grand ravalement which occurred in 1786, although traces of this red paint may still remain on the inner cheek surfaces. This still remains to be explored, although a negative result may simply mean that any underpainting was removed at the time the surfaces were gilded and re-decorated in 1786.
The notable difference between the harpsichord in the painting and the Franco-Flemish harpsichord is that the instrument in the painting has only one keyboard, whereas the latter has two. There is no way now of knowing if the instrument in the painting really is a different harpsichord or whether the harpsichord was painted with one keyboard as artistic license on the part of Boucher. Was Boucher too rushed, or perhaps too lazy, to paint in the second keyboard (a feat that is not easy to depict correctly and get the perspective right with keys separated so that they 'read' correctly with two sharps followed by 3 sharps and with the keys of the upper manual aligned correctly above those of the lower manual). The large number of features that the Franco-Flemish harpsichord shares with the instrument in the Boucher painting strongly suggests that they are indeed one and the same instrument. Even the height of the stand, which is greater than usual, suggests that this is, indeed, the same instrument with the same stand.
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Important
Features of this harpsichord
A brief history of the musical and decorative states of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord
Details of
the original state of the instrument
Details of the eighteenth-century states of this harpsichord
Details of the modern history of this harpsichord
A problem encountered in the ethical restoration of this harpsichord
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