The first thing that struck me (and will certainly strike you if you ever come to visit) is its magical color.... More than an actual color, this PARTICULARLY SIENA YELLOW seemed to me an “explosive phenomenon,” fascinating because it is powerful, but also because it is in an entirely unfamiliar tone (and I, of marble colors in a half-century spent in the company of the most diverse marbles, should have seen quite a few, don't you think?).
Whatever, but I can do without continuing to magnify its marble fabric, so anyone who sees this specimen will certainly appreciate this fascinating chromaticism of it.
In this fireplace mantel there is also another IMPORTANT reason for appreciation, it is ABOUT ITS PARTICULAR AND HAPPENINGLY “REVOLUTIONARY” MODEL.
Until about 1850, no architect would have dared to “shift” the angle of the legs in a Louis XVI-style fireplace. They MUST be, always and in any case, completely facing the front while the ones you see here are positioned perhaps thirty degrees outward, so that those who saw the fireplace coming from its side could enjoy the view of its legs, albeit partial, even from that point of arrival, something that until that time, was the prerogative of Louis XV fireplaces (which have their legs placed at about 45 degrees toward the sides..).
Not content with imposing this sinful “leg movement” on a Neoclassical fireplace, the architect who designed it thought of “rounding off” our fireplace's front as well... No longer the classic straight and square rectangular solid wood, stationary over the centuries like a soldier in the guardhouse, but an “arched” front, centrally jutting outward...
THIS " MOTION " MAKES THE FIREPLACE MORE ELEGANT, MORE SLENDER, MORE MODERN, NEWER, IN SHORT, IT WAS A SUCCESS THAT CREATED THE FASHION OF "CHEMINÉES ARRONDIES," THAT IS, "ROUNDED" LOUIS XVI FIREPLACES.
This is how the model chosen by the first owner of the fireplace I am presenting here was born, a model whose drawings were delivered to a sculpture workshop in Pietrasanta (for it was in that area that the work took place) an area where, in addition to the well-known and appreciated sculptural mastery, it was also possible to find “blocks” of Giallo Siena marble of this Quality and Beauty.
PARIS, PERIOD OF BIRTH C. 1860, FANTASTIC CONDITION.
