The Valois convex mirror started as a silver metal leafed frame. Layered on top are pale gold Venetian glass rods. I have studded the frame with crystal clear and gold leafed jewels. I used the silver to “backlight” the gold rods. Surrounding the mirror are small citrine spheres.
The Valois convex mirror is about 6 inches in diameter. It will be shipped to one of my showrooms shortly.
Jewelry for walls!
The Valois convex mirror was partly inspired by the French Valois Dynasty( 1328-1589). George Santayana said it best: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Lessons are never truly learned and the French renaissance is one example.
The reasons for this are because the French renaissance is a lot like today, but without the comforts. It was a time of extreme violence, economic disparity, bigotry, religious wars, pandemics, fanaticism and, surprisingly, a flowering in the arts. The parallels to the world today are dismaying and surprising.
The French renaissance was defined by the struggle for power between various warring factions; the Catholics versus the Protestants( Huguenots), Catholic extremism versus Catholic compromise, the after effects of the Reformation, aristocracy versus the peasant class and the burgeoning middle class. In the end very little was resolved and France and Europe were left bankrupt and exhausted.
The Valois presided over much of this. Ambitious, greedy, ruthless, sensuous, sickly and arrogant, the Valois personified their times. Their dynasty weakened over time with each successive generation, becoming more and more divisive, decadent and distant from their subjects. The last Valois, Henry III, was a cross dressing( to me a plus!), murderous fanatic who was stabbed to death by a mad monk.
Below are a selection of the lenticular flips that I did of some particularly vivid members of the Valois Dynasty. Go to https://theartofmarkevans.com/the-valois-dynasty-2/
You must be logged in to post a comment.