Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695 – 31 July 1750) was a French

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728–1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745–1795) * Franco Albini (1905–1977) * Davis Allen ( ...

. He was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, but became known as a worker in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he died. His Italian origin and training were probably responsible for the extravagance of his decorative style. He shared, and perhaps distanced, the meretricious triumphs of Oppenord and

Germain Germain may refer to: *Germain (name), including a list of people with the name *Germain Arena, the former name of an arena in Estero, Florida *Germain Racing, a NASCAR racing team *Germain Amphitheater, a concert venue in Columbus, Ohio *Paris Sa ...

, since he dealt with the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

in its most daring and flamboyant developments. Rarely did he leave a foot or two of undecorated space; Meissonier carried the style of his day to its extreme and thus achieved great popularity. Like the Scottish brothers

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

at a later day he not only as an architect built houses but as a painter and decorator, covered their internal walls; he designed the furniture and the candlesticks, the silver and the decanters for the table; he was as ready to produce a snuff-box as a watch case or a sword hilt. Not only in France, but for the nobility of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and other countries who took their fashions and their taste from Paris, he made designs. His work in gold and silver plates was often graceful and sometimes bold and original. His furniture features strong

rocaille Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decorative arts, decoration during the early reign of Lo ...

elements. He was appointed by

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

''Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du roi''; the post of designer ''pour les pompes funèbres et galantes'' was also held along with that of ''Orfèvre du roi''. For our knowledge of his work we are considerably indebted to his own books of design: ''Livres d'ornements en trente pièces'' and ''Ornements de la carte chronologique''. His works are held in the collection of the

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facil ...

.Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier , People , Collection of Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissonier, Juste People from the Savoyard state Immigrants to France 18th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 18th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Artists from Turin French furniture designers French goldsmiths 1695 births 1750 deaths 18th-century French male artists 18th-century Italian male artists