Lot 126: JOSEPH WERNER BERNE 1637 - 1710

ORPHEUS CHARMING THE ANIMALS

measurements note
10 by 13 3/8 in.; 25.5 by 34 cm

oil on copper

NOTE

Werner was born in Berne, Switzerland and trained in Basel and Frankfurt. Around 1654, he went to Rome and established himself as a painter of miniature portraits and allegories. He was summoned by Louis XIV to Paris where he continued to work as a portrait miniaturist, often portraying his sitters in the guise of gods and goddesses. Werner also painted purely mythological subjects such as this charming portrayal of Orpheus. Another mythological work, a miniature on vellum depicting Diana Bathing, was sold in these rooms on January 28, 2000, lot 48 for $266,500.