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Charles de Solier, Lord of Morette

Medal
1530s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The portrait is linked with a painting of the same sitter by Hans Holbein the Younger (b. 1497-8; d. 1543) in Dresden. It might have been made when Solier was serving as the French ambassador in London and could have sat for Holbein, then court artist to Henry VIII.
It seem likely that Weiditz used Holbein's image as the basis for his piece. This is the only known piece by Weiditz based on the work of another artist.
Charles de Solier was born in 1480, and the carving gives his age as 50. He was from a Piedmontese family and in his youth served as a page at the court of Charles VIII of France, and later became a courtier to Francis I. In 1534 he was Francis's ambassador at the court of Henry VIII.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCharles de Solier, Lord of Morette (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Boxwood
Brief description
Medallion, boxwood, Charles de Solier, Lord of Morette, by Christoph Weiditz, Germany, 1530s
Physical description
Medallion depicts on the obverse the bust looking to the left of Charles de Solier. Inscription. Reverse a horse prancing on a sea shore; below a dolphin. Inscription.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 5.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • '*CAROLVS DE SOLARIO DNS MORETY ANNV AGENS L' (Latin; Obverse)
    Translation
    Charles de Solier, Lord of Morette at the age of 50
  • 'VIRTVS ET FORTVA VIROS EXERCET ET ORNAT' (Latin; Reverse)
    Translation
    Fortune schools men, and virtue adorns them
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
Provenance: Salting Bequest. George Salting (b. 1836; d. 1909), an Australian who settled in England, bequeathed a large collection of works decorative art to the Museum in 1909.

Suhle suggested that the horse on the reverse symbolises virtue, while the dolphin represents fortune.
Subjects depicted
Summary
The portrait is linked with a painting of the same sitter by Hans Holbein the Younger (b. 1497-8; d. 1543) in Dresden. It might have been made when Solier was serving as the French ambassador in London and could have sat for Holbein, then court artist to Henry VIII.
It seem likely that Weiditz used Holbein's image as the basis for his piece. This is the only known piece by Weiditz based on the work of another artist.
Charles de Solier was born in 1480, and the carving gives his age as 50. He was from a Piedmontese family and in his youth served as a page at the court of Charles VIII of France, and later became a courtier to Francis I. In 1534 he was Francis's ambassador at the court of Henry VIII.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie. German Renaissance Medals. Victoria & Albert Museum, 1990. 128p., ill. ISBN 1851770135.
  • Rowlands, J. Holbein: The Paintings of Hans Holbein the Younger, Oxford, 1985, p. 87, fig 17 and p. 142
  • Habich, catalog, I, 1, p. 64, no. 398, pl. LII, 3
  • Scher, Stephen K, The Currency of fame: portrait medals of the Renaissance, New York, National Gallery of Art (U.S.), Frick Collection., 1994 pp.227-228
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 77, pl. 118
  • Reid, Barbara, Leslie Rivett and Margarette Lincoln, Henry VIII at Greenwich, London: National Maritime Museum, 1991.
  • Woollet, Anne T. (ed), Holbein: Capturing Character, Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2021. p. 127
Collection
Accession number
A.507-1910

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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