Rare tapestries illustrating the Goddesses of the grotesque Months hanging in strips mounted as a five-leaf screen, in wool, silk and gold metallic threads AUJOURD HUI INVISIBLES after Claude Audran III (1658-1734), Manufacture des Gobelins, attributed to the workshop of Dominique de La Croix or Etienne Le Blond, early 18th century, from 1708-1710. Each leaf, H: 2.39 - W: 0.57 m Good condition, oxidized gold metallic thread broaching (originally gold metallic thread around silk threads), minor wear and tear, cloth-lined verso. The first two leaves have been adapted by reducing the top and bottom by approximately 15 cm, bringing back the original element. The other three are complete. They have just been adapted to the screen. This series of Grotesque Months in Stripes was created by Claude Audran III for the alcove hanging in the bedroom of the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, for the Château de Meudon in 1708. The original hanging was framed with a purple background and mosaics featuring the prince's emblems, dolphins and crossed Ls. There is some doubt as to its use, since we know that in 1710 it was in the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, and its commissioner died in 1711. Today, the Mobilier National conserves nine grotesque months from this series (January to March and April to September inv. GMTT 183/1 and GMTT 183/2. October, November and December were rewoven in the 20th century (GOB-524-000). Each month is associated with a god or goddess and a sign of the zodiac. These are elongated bands with a light background, decorated with grotesques, foliage and ornamentation, consisting of a portico housing a different divinity for each month, at the top of which is the sign of the zodiac, and at the bottom the animals and attributes of the goddesses. A number of Audran's drawings were purchased by K. J. Cronstedt, the future superintendent of the King of Sweden's buildings National Museum in Stockholm, while his brother Jean Audran took on the task of engraving them in 1726, thereby publicizing his designs. Other drawings are in the National Design Museum at the Smithsonian Institution (Léon Decloux Cooper-Hewitt). Successful designs, a certain number of copies were woven for private individuals, with variations, often without gold. Gold-stitched deliveries, known as "à or argent", were most often intended for the Garde-Meuble royal or dignitaries close to power. Examples include gold deliveries for Maurice Bischoffsheim, Prince Giovanelli in Venice, the Palazzo Pamphilij in Rome, Baron de Gunzburg, the Duc de Doudeauville, and today the Wernher Collection in Luton Hoo. Some tapestries are mounted as screens, such as the one in the Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor, consisting of four sheets (EM 103/76). These five tapestries of the Months in bands are made up of, starting from the left, Juno or January, sign of Aquarius, with her attributes the peacock and below the two geese, then Amphitrite or February, sign of Pisces, in a niche decorated with shells, the marine horses of Neptune's chariot and a ship with its tackle. The third shows Ceres or August August, sign of Virgo, her sickle and goats, Diana or May, on her chariot and cherubs, July sign of Leo and her bull. The tapestries in this collection are unique in that they feature only goddesses, not a mix of gods and goddesses. They are similar to the Months in the Tabibnia collection in Milan. Bibliography : - F. Calmettes, Etat général des tapisseries de la manufacture des Gobelins, 1912. - G. Geffroy, Les Modèles et les tapisseries des Gobelins, n.d. - Drawings from the National Museum, Stockholm, Collection Tessin & Cronstedt, pl. 134, pl. XXI. - M. Fenaille. Etat Général des tapisseries des Gobelins. 1699-1736, vol. III, pp. 73-80. - H. Göbel, Wandteppiche und ihre manufakturen, vol. II, p. 156-157. - B. Pons, Le décor de l'appartement du Grand Dauphin au château neuf de Meudon (1709), Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1991, pp. 59-76. - J. Vittet, Les Gobelins au Siècle des Lumières, Swan Editeur, 2014, p. 37-41. - J. Vittet and A. Brejon de Lavergnée, La collection de tapisseries de Louis XIV, Ed. Faton, 2010, p. 272. Exhibition : Galerie Moshe Tabibnia, Divinita, scimmie e Segni Zodiacali, texts by Pascal-François Bertrand, Nello Forti Grazzini, Francesca Zardini, Milan 2007, p. 40-106.