Salon met tafel en panelen 1753 - 1782

Pierre Claude Delagardette's "Salon with Table and Panels" presents an elevation of a salon rendered in delicate lines, a mirror flanked by pastoral scenes. The central mirror reflects not just light but also, symbolically, the self, inviting introspection. The flanking panels, idyllic landscapes with figures by water, evoke a sense of Arcadia, a classical ideal of pastoral harmony and retreat. But consider the vase above the mirror, adorned with foliage: this motif, echoing ancient Greek symposium vessels, appears throughout time and space. From the Roman frescoes of Pompeii to the still lifes of the Dutch Golden Age, the vase symbolizes both life's abundance and its transience. Here, it suggests that even within the ordered elegance of the salon, the wildness of nature—and the awareness of mortality—cannot be contained. This tension, between control and chaos, civilization and nature, is a timeless theme, continually resurfacing in our collective memory.