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Charles Le Brun

Medal
1676 (made)
Artist/Maker
Chéron, Charles-Jean-François (medallist)
Place of origin
France (made)

Little is known of the biography of the medallist Charles-Jean-François Cheron (1635-1698). He went to Rome in 1655 and was employed by artists connected with the Papal Mint. He produced good, cast medals of Pope Clement IX and X, and struck ones of Christina of Sweden, then in exile in Rome, and King Louis XIV (1672). He was summoned to Paris by Louis XIV in 1675 and enrolled in the Academy in the following year, his 'morceaux de reception' being portrait medals of Charles Le Brun and others. In the history of the Baroque medal, Cheron occupies a place of honour between Gaspare Mola and Massimiliano Soldani.

Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Portraits
Sculpture
Myths & Legends
Object type
Medal
TitleCharles Le Brun (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze, cast and chased
Bronze
Brief description
Medal, bronze, Charles Le Brun, by Charles-Jean-François Cheron, French, 1676
Physical description
Obverse: Bust length profile portrait of Charles le Brun, bareheaded, facing to right. Inscription.
Reverse: A standing female figure represents Art the Mother of Drawing, the flame of intellect burns above her head. She is surrounded by various symbols of the Arts and Crafts - painting, sculpture, architecture, metalwork and textiles. Inscription.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 7cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'CAR . LE . BRVN . EQ . Ivs . REGIS PICTOR . ACAD . CANCEL' [and] 'F. CHERON' (obverse)
    Translation
    'Painter to the King, President of the Academy'
  • 'ARTIVM . MATER . DIAGRAPHE' (reverse)
    Translation
    'Drawing the Mother of Arts'
Object history
Purchased with assistance from the Hildburgh Bequest, for £160, in 1975, from R G Coats Esq, Russell Road, London.
Production
Franco-Roman
Subjects depicted
Female Figure
Le Brun, Charles
Summary
Little is known of the biography of the medallist Charles-Jean-François Cheron (1635-1698). He went to Rome in 1655 and was employed by artists connected with the Papal Mint. He produced good, cast medals of Pope Clement IX and X, and struck ones of Christina of Sweden, then in exile in Rome, and King Louis XIV (1672). He was summoned to Paris by Louis XIV in 1675 and enrolled in the Academy in the following year, his 'morceaux de reception' being portrait medals of Charles Le Brun and others. In the history of the Baroque medal, Cheron occupies a place of honour between Gaspare Mola and Massimiliano Soldani.
Bibliographic references
  • Jacquiot, j. et al., La Médailles au temps de Louis XIV, Paris, 1970, exhibition catalogue, pp. 119-136
  • Forrer, L. Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, I (revised), London, 1904, p. 420
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.39-1975

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O313705/charles-le-brun-medal-chéron-charles-jean/
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