A unique Vacheron Constantin created with the Louvre Museum

It was in December 2020: a "Bid for the Louvre" auction was organized for the benefit of the Louvre Museum's solidarity projects. Among the lots on offer was having Vacheron Constantin's craftsmen design a unique piece inspired by a work from the museum. It took two years for this timepiece to finally see the light of day, after a private tour of the museum, guided by museum experts, and the manufacture by the lucky bidder. For this unique example Les Cabinotiers, he finally decided to pay tribute to Peter Paul Rubens and The struggle for the standard of the Battle of Anghiari. The miniature enamel dial of this watch faithfully reproduces the design of Peter Paul Rubens.

A dial reproducing a work kept in the Louvre. VacheronConstantin

The dial of this piece is personalized with the reproduction in miniature enamel or grisaille enamel of a work kept at the Louvre and chosen by the buyer. "This work has extraordinary volumes where the strength of the characters and horses is contrasted by the softness of the drawing with the inkwork of tone-on-tone washes and sepia," explains Vacheron Constantin. This timepiece is powered by the Manufacture 2460 SC movement by Vacheron Constantin, whose oscillating weight is engraved with a representation of the east façade of the Louvre.

This drawing by Peter Paul Rubens has an extraordinary history. During his stay in Italy, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Flemish painter would have bought, then retouched with ink, wash and gouache, this sheet representing the Battle of Anghiari, a vast composition commissioned from Leonardo da Vinci for the Hall of the Great Council of the Palace of the Lordship – later Palazzo Vecchio – in Florence. Considered one of the artist's great masterpieces, the immense painting, which celebrated a famous victory of the armies of Pope Eugene IV and the republics of Venice and Florence over those of the Duke of Milan, left unfinished by Leonardo in 1506, deteriorated very quickly.
Practically nothing remained when Giorgio Vasari, in the middle of the sixteenth century, restructured the room at the request of Duke Cosimo I, to make it the current Salone de' Cinquecento, and covered the walls with a new decoration exalting the high deeds of the House of Medici. Would the remains of the Battle of Anghiari have been preserved under the frescoes of Vasari? No one, to date, has provided proof, and research attempts, especially during the Battle of Marciano, have proved quite unsuccessful.

A unique piece, the result of two years of work. Vacheron Constantin

"Transcribing on a dial 3.3 cm in diameter a drawing made of strokes in ink and pen is a real challenge. You have to go into the work and make it your own to find the level of detail while maintaining the strength of the graphics," says Vacheron Constantin. Here, Geneva's technical miniature painting technique seemed the most appropriate to pay homage to the original work. The House's Master Enameller has broadened the framework of the traditional technique by deciding to integrate Limoges white generally used in grisaille enamel, one of his specialties. Multiplying the tools and secrets of enamel alchemy, he used brushes with 3 and 4 hairs, tips but also cactus thorns.
The technique of miniature enamel with Geneva fondant consists in adding to the layers of vitrified enamels an ultimate transparent and colorless protection that gives shine and depth to the work of the craftsman. The gray enamel has somehow been diverted on this piece, since the Master Enameller wanted to create a flange using the white of Limoges, in order to give more relief and movement to the mane of the horse in particular.

In line with this auction, the partnership between Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre has expanded this year with a new Les Cabinotiers offer "A masterpiece on the wrist". It allows customers to choose, among the works of the museum, the one that will be reproduced in enamel on the dial of the watch. Most of these works are not exhibited. A certificate of authenticity from the museum will certify the reproduction. The experience is accompanied by a private tour of the Louvre in the company of its experts and the Vacheron Constantin manufacture to meet its master watchmakers and master craftsmen.