Design for a Candlestick

This design for a candlestick was made by the French artist Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau who was a proliferous designer of architecture, ornament and the decorative arts. His style and works are mainly known through the prints and books he produced and published in Orléans. In his works he combines French and Italian elements into heavily ornate designs which were very popular at the time. In 1548-1549 he published a series of candlestick designs of which three are known today. This design contains several classical elements which are most likely based directly on Italian examples. The base, for example, seems to have been inspired by a drawing by Giulio Romano. The curled-up ornaments in the layer above the lion’s feet are motifs particular to France however and relate back to the court style disseminated from the castle of Fontainebleau starting from the late 1530s. Through his prints, Du Cerceau himself played an important role in this dissemination during the second and third quarter of the 16th century.