In the 18th century, José Canops, a German, created distinctive furnishings on the Spanish courtroom | EUROtoday

Dhe artwork historic custom is typically the product of coincidences. At the identical time, coincidences contribute to correcting the canon: In May 2014, Achim Stiegel, curator of the furnishings assortment on the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts, noticed an impressive desk from the eighteenth century within the “Legion of Honor” museum in San Francisco. At first look, the piece of furnishings revealed its independence, but additionally its equality with the masterpieces of the time. Compare with the Ebenists of Louis XV. like Jean-François Oeben or Johann Heinrich Riesener got here to thoughts, however the hint of the desk led to the courtroom of Madrid.

In 2021, due to quite a few sponsors, the Decorative Arts Museum was in a position to buy an nearly much more beautiful cylinder bureau from the identical workshop. An exhibition and a global convention now take inventory of virtually ten years of analysis between Berlin and Madrid: the historical past of European luxurious furnishings building is enriched by a wealthy chapter. Like many cabinetmakers of the Ancien Régime, the unjustly forgotten grasp got here from German-speaking international locations: José Canops was born as Joseph Cnops within the Duchy of Limburg, close to Aachen. At a younger age, his profession took him to the Spanish courtroom through the extremely specialised workshops within the Fauburg Saint-Antoine in Paris. An art-loving ruler within the spirit of enlightened absolutism labored there: Even as king of Naples and Sicily, Charles III. saved the educated world in suspense with the excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum. When he took over authorities in Spain in 1759, his ambition was to finish the royal palace, which had been underneath building since 1738.