Vacheron Constantin Plays to the Gallery

There is an artwork hanging in the Louvre called La lutte pour l’étendard de la ‘Bataille d’Anghiari.’ It’s a 17th-century drawing by a Flemish artist named Peter Paul Rubens, and one of the crown jewels of the Parisian gallery’s collection. Depicting a battle between the armies of Pope Eugene IV and the Duke of Milan, the artwork is notable for many reasons, amongst them a deft use of perspective and the meticulously detailed depiction of men and horses entwined on the battlefield. And yet, as impressive as Rubens’ drawing may be, it is believed to be an homage to an even greater work by Leonardo da Vinci — one that has been lost to history.

That’s a whole other story — a twisting tale of how da Vinci’s original artwork was lost and how Rubens attempted to recreate it using the famed painter’s sketches in conjunction with facsimiles from another unknown artist. But it’s a backstory that will have to wait, because Vacheron Constantin has added yet another chapter to the artwork’s history. And, presented as the first in a series of watches based on masterworks in the Louvre, the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Homage to Peter Paul Rubens’ La lutte pour l’étendard de la ‘Bataille d’Anghiari‘ sees the centuries-old drawing featured on a watch’s dial.

Vacheron Constantin is the world’s oldest continuously operating watchmaker, with a distinguished history stretching back more than 260 years. The brand, armed with and aware of this heritage, has long been dedicated to preserving and celebrating the traditional crafts of watchmaking — and does this most notably with its Les Cabinotiers collection, a range of highly limited pieces with painstakingly enamelled, gilded, and engraved dials. Its artistic collaboration with the Louvre was sparked when the watchmaker assisted in the restoration of The Creation of the World, an ornate 18th-century clock built for King Louis XV in 1754. Once this project was completed, a constructive partnership developed.

“I am delighted with this collaboration, which is full of fruitful exchanges between our teams and marked by a shared desire to serve beauty,” says Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre. “Born in the Age of Enlightenment, our two institutions share the mission of passing on a passion for art, heritage, and the excellence of ancestral craftsmanship.”

The Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Homage to Peter Paul Rubens’ La lutte pour l’étendard de la ‘Bataille d’Anghiari’ was the result of a 2020 auction benefiting the Louvre’s educational outreach programs, after which the winning bidder was allowed to choose any work in the museum’s collection to be recreated on the dial of a one-of-one timepiece. But creating a watch face based on Rubens’ highly detailed drawing tested even the significant skills of Vacheron Constantin’s master enameler — an elusive, anonymous artisan with three decades of experience in this ancient craft.

“This work features extraordinary volumes in which the strength of the characters and horses contrasts with the softness of the drawing,” he explains. “Transcribing a drawing composed of ink and pen strokes onto a dial measuring 3.3 cm in diameter is a real challenge. You have to get inside the work and make it your own to find the level of detail while preserving the strength of the graphics.”

Following the successful execution of this piece, which required 20 distinct shades of enamel and many firings in a 900°C kiln, Vacheron Constantin has now decided to offer more customers the opportunity to create their own single-piece Les Cabinotiers watches based on any work in the Louvre’s expansive collection. Delivered with a certificate of authenticity from the museum to certify the reproduction, these watches will also come with a private tour of the Louvre, guided by in-house experts, as well as a VIP visit to the Vacheron Constantin Manufacture and a meeting with its master watchmakers and artisans.

“I enthusiastically welcome this collaboration between our two institutions, both centuries-old yet firmly rooted in the 21st century, as evidenced by the favour they enjoy among an audience of connoisseurs,” says Louis Ferla, the CEO of Vacheron Constantin. “Our Maison has long since stood out in terms of both artistic commitment and cultural patronage. With the Louvre Museum, we are writing an extremely promising joint history by combining our fields of competence and our wildest dreams.”

In addition to an elaborately hand-decorated dial, the Rubens-inspired Les Cabinotiers piece includes a movement crafted in-house by Vacheron Constantin that can be seen through a sapphire crystal window beneath an “officer-style” hinged case back. Featuring a 22K pink gold oscillating weight engraved with the Louvre’s eastern facade, its high level of finishing and accuracy earned it the Geneva Seal, the hallmark of the most refined watches in the world. This movement is a testament to the skill and artistry of Vacheron Constantin’s master watchmakers and, in any other context, would be deserving of a glowing spotlight of its own. In the case of the collaboration between Vacheron Constantin and the Louvre Museum, however, it’s simply one of two masterworks on display.

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