The Nymph of Fontainebleau (), also known as the Nymph of Anet () or the Nymph with the Stag (), is a 1543 Bronze sculpture relief (Paris, Louvre, MR 1706[), created by the Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini for the Château de Fontainebleau in France. It features a long-limbed reclining nude Nymph with a stag, wild boars, dogs, and other animals. It was Cellini's first large scale bronze casting.][Nova 1996, pp. 141–142. Nova states the sculpture was cast before 2 March 1543. For the name Nymphe d'Anet see Dunlop 1996, p. 96; for the name Nymphe au cerf see Babelon 1989, p. 423.]
History
The sculpture was commissioned by François I, executed in Cellini's workshop at the Hôtel de Nesle (adjacent to the Tour de Nesle) in Paris, sculpted with the help of Thomas Dambry, Pierre Bontemps and Laurent Mailleu, and assembled with the help of foundrymen Pierre Villain and Guillaume Saligot.[ Originally intended to be placed in the tympanum in the arch above the entrance of the Porte Dorée ("Golden Gate") at the Château de Fontainebleau, it was never installed there, but instead was used by the architect Philibert de L'Orme, who put it above the entrance gate (built ) of the Château d'Anet,][Nova 1996, p. 141–143.] where the nymph became identified with Diana, the goddess of the hunt, representing the owner of the château, Diane de Poitiers,[Wheeler 1979, p. 83.] and the stag with her lover Henri II of France.
The relief was seized on 23 March 1794, at the time of the French Revolution, and moved from Anet to the Nesle depot.[ According to the French historian , it was initially intended for the Musée des Monuments Français in Paris and was later replaced in Anet by a painted plaster cast.][Roy 1929, p. 303.] On 23 February 1796, the Conservatoire des Arts decided it should be moved to the small courtyard of the Louvre, but in 1797, when it was actually moved to the Louvre, it was placed in the Grande Galerie.[
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After the sculpture's restoration in 1811 by the father and son founder-Chasing (French: ciseleurs) Delafontaine, it was installed by the architect Pierre-François Fontaine over the Caryatides Balcony in the Salle des Caryatides of the Lescot Wing, where it remained until 1847, when it was replaced with a cast by Antoine-Louis Barye and transferred to the Sculptures rooms. It was later moved to a landing of the Mollien Staircase above the ground floor of the Denon Wing of the Louvre, where it is currently on display.[
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File:Château d'Anet - Anet - Eure-et-Loir - France - Mérimée PA00096955 (4).jpg|Replica at the Château d'Anet
File:Chateau Anet - portail.jpg|Long view showing its location above the entrance gate at Anet
File:Fontainebleau Nymph - Moulding in salle des Caryatides.jpg|Replica in the Salle des Caryatides of the Louvre
File:Paris Palais du Louvre Salle des Caryatides 02a.jpg|Long view showing the Nymph above the balcony supported by the four caryatids sculpted by Jean Goujon
File:Escalier Mollien (Louvre) - rez-de-chaussée vers premier étage.jpg|Long view showing its location on the Mollien Stairs of the Louvre
File:Benvenuto cellini, ninfa di fontainebleau, 1542-43 ca. 04.JPG|Close-up view of the original bronze by Cellini
See also
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Fountain of Diana
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Diana of Versailles
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Perseus with the Head of Medusa
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Cellini Salt Cellar
Notes
Bibliography
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Babelon, Jean-Pierre (1989). Châteaux de France au siècle de la Renaissance. Paris: Picard. .
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Dunlop, Ian (1996). The Companion Guide to The Country Round Paris. Rochester: New York. . Originally published 1979 as The Companion Guide to the Ile de France. Revised paperback edition 1986. Reissued 1996.
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Nova, Alessandro (1996). "Cellini, Benvenuto", vol. 6, pp. 139–150, in The Dictionary of Art, 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . Also at Oxford Art Online.
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Roy, Maurice (1929). Artistes et monuments de la Renaissance en France. Richesses nouvelles et documents inédits / I. - 1re partie.. Paris: Librairie ancienne Honoré Champion. .
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Wheeler, Daniel (1979). The Chateaux of France. London: Octopus Books. .
