Embroidered Panel: Mercury

France became the silk and fashion center of the world during the reign of Louis XIV and under the direction of his Minister of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert. While the identity of most designers of luxurious silks made at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries are unknown to us, the name of Jean-Démosthène Dugourc was well known as he was considered the leading interior decorator of his time. Dugourc had an interest in antiquity that meshed well with the Empire style promoted by Napoleon and helped bridge the stylistic evolution from the rococo to neoclassical periods. Dugourc worked for the prestigious silk firm of Camille Pernon in Lyon. The design for this panel featuring the god Mercury has been attributed to Dugourc based on a drawing found in Pernon’s archives. Three other panels from the set exist, including one depicting the god Mars that is also in this Museum’s collection.