Louis XIII - (1610-1643)

The terms Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Regency, Louis XV and Empire refer to a succession of styles in French frames over a 150-year period. These styles, however, are not necessarily concurrent with the reigns that they take their names from. For example, frames designated Louis XIII were mostly made in the second half of the 17th century, though Louis XIII died in 1643.
Marie de' Medici was Regent - (1601-1617) (not related to the Regency period) during the minority of Louis XIII, thereby further contributing to the Italian influence of his reign. With the shift of political and cultural dominance from Italy to France in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, the rich local talents helped to evolve a characteristic style. The affinity for classical vine carving from Bologna and Venice had awakened the forms' possibilities to the French designers.

The leaf-torus frames are most frequently composed either of laurels or of oak-leaf garlands, both of which may be bound with ribbons at the corners-and/or centers-and studded with berries or acorns. Together with the frilled edges of the leaves, these give variety to the rippling surface of the moulding. Apart from its decorative qualities, the leaf-torus also carries symbolic associations. The laurel is dedicated to Apollo and the Muses, and implies some generalized reference to poetry or the visual arts. It has also become, through its use as the victor's crown in the games of classical Greece, associated with victory in battle, and is therefore appropriate for kings and generals; and because it is evergreen it can imply the eternal. Similarly, the oak is dedicated to Jupiter, king of the gods, and is also implicitly Royal.

The French love of floral carving is fully evident in the transitional period from Louis XIII to Louis XIV where the flower corner frame made its debut. The novel feature of this design was the projecting corners and/or centers, which created a new dynamic interplay, diagonally as well as vertically and horizontally, with the pictures' composition. The corner lambrequin figure, a borrowing from the plumed scarf from the knight's helmet, is a variation on palmette fleur-de-lis motifs seen also in other 17th and 18th century French frames. The raised corners are carved with a profusion of flowers, often including narcissi, roses or the Louis XIV sunflower, which overlap the outer edge, de-emphasizing the rectangular silhouette. The intermediary moulding (or repose) can be delicately incised with leaves and flowers to echo the corners.
1-3/4" wide. Flower Corners, delicate shaping, thin sand panel.