Polychrome earthenware plaque depicting a country scene in a - Lot 80

Polychrome earthenware plaque depicting a country scene in a wooded landscape with a woman crossing a river accompanied by a cow and a dog. Italy, Castelli, first third of the 18th century Height: 12 cm - Length: 16 cm In a gilded wood frame. Expert : Cabinet Fligny, Paris. Inscription on reverse panel Ex dono D. Beck Consilionii ecclesiastia DD. Principis Electoris Archiepiscopal Treverensis, 1798 QUI Ab altero D. Beck Doctore [...] [ ...] Electoris [...] agent in celebri congresione dicix [ ...] ex toto divergent. Bouvier [...] Old collector's label no. 346 (small edge chips) The Alsatian abbot and doctor François-Henri Beck (1740-1828) was confessor and intimate adviser to Clement-Wenceslas of Saxony, archbishop-elector of Trier. His influence with the prelate illustrates Strasbourg's role as a citadel of ultramontanism at a time when the Rhineland was being shaped by the ideas of the Aufklärung and the religious policies of Joseph II.