Four doors with trims and one set of entre-portes 1725 - 1740

These door trims were crafted by Jean François Cuvilliés the Elder, sometime in the 18th century. Look closely, and you'll see that embedded within their design is a celebration of the arts, specifically music and performance. Instruments are bundled together as ornament, and their gilded surfaces catch the light. But why this choice of imagery, and what might it tell us about the cultural and historical context of the doors? The musical instruments remind us of the intricate symbolic language used in the Renaissance and Baroque periods to convey ideas of harmony and divine order. The bundled instruments echo the 'trophy' motif—a symbol of victory, of concord, of the well-ordered life. We find it echoed again and again, from ancient Roman friezes to the decorative arts of the Renaissance. Notice how the instruments are idealized, devoid of any sign of use or wear. They are transformed into potent cultural symbols, resonating with our collective memory. In using these motifs, Cuvilliés evokes the eternal cycle of history—of symbols resurfacing and evolving to capture new and different cultural meanings.