Allegory of Reims

Jean Massard’s etching is after a drawing by Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Younger is in the collection. The drawing and print depict the decorative cartouche for a monumental map of the city of Reims produced by Massard, Legendre, and Lattré in 1769. The print includes an inscription about the plan of Reims. It is evident from the branches of the tree in the upper right corner of the print, extending over the edge of the sheet, that this is a single sheet from a multi-sheet map. The edge of the map is visible in the upper left corner. Reims is a city that was always important to the French royal family: it is the home of the cathedral where French kings were crowned, the seat of the realm's most important cardinal, and the center of France's champagne production. Louis XV commissioned a number of urban projects in Reims towards the end of his reign, the centerpiece of which was his life-sized marble portrait by Pigalle. The new map of the city celebrated the completion of these projects. In the design by Cochin, Reims is seen as the new Rome (note Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf) under the protection of Minerva/France. Just to her left, the female personification of the River Vesle--the city's main water source--looks on as putti assume the role of viticulturists and Pan enjoys the fruits of their labors.