Musée du Louvre · RF 270
Historical artwork presented in a generated frame setting.
The story behind the piece
A message written in gemstones.
Joséphine’s acrostic bracelets, recorded in the Danish Royal Collection, use the first letters of French gemstone names to spell Eugène and Hortense. The jewel carries a private meaning through colour and sequence.
LANCRET reinterprets this method with seven stones: Lapis-lazuli, Améthyste, Nicolo, Citrine, Rubis, Émeraude and Turquoise. Their initials form the house name. Prud’hon’s portrait of Joséphine offers the poetic setting for this new message.
- L
- Lapis-lazuli
- A
- Améthyste
- N
- Nicolo
- C
- Citrine
- R
- Rubis
- E
- Émeraude
- T
- Turquoise
The portrait evokes Joséphine’s world. The seven-stone LANCRET sequence is a contemporary design, not a bracelet worn by her in this painting.
