French school of the 19th century

French school of the 19th century
ALLEGORY OF SPEED

Oil on canvas. Doubled.
248 x 205 cm.

High rectangular format with veneer ground, painted in trompe-l'oeil technique. On it a highly oval, plastically shaped and gilded cartouche with a depiction of a female genius in the middle of a landscape. This with various elements, praising speed and with it technical progress. Thus a turtle can be seen, its lifeless body hanging from a cable pole, showing that slowness is subject to speed. A cherub in free fall symbolises speed, as does the iron locomotive thundering out of a tunnel behind the cherub, and another train running over an aqueduct. Idyllically and only in the haze of the past, far in the distance, we see historical monuments which seem to be subject to technical progress in their importance, but which provided the basis for today's technical knowledge, such as the temple of Minerva. The painting was possibly made for the decoration of a trade exhibition. Stretcher frame renewed. (1240811) (13)

French School, 19th century

ALLEGORY OF SPEED

Oil on canvas. Relined.
248 x 205 cm. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.