Baroque coat of arms, painted and gilded, late 17th century.

Period: 17th century
Origin: France or Italy
Dimensions: 61 cm x 45 cm
Price: 1900 euros

Superb polychrome sculpted and gilded armorial panel, dating from the late 17th century.
This rare piece illustrates the alliance between Baroque sculpture and heraldic symbolism.

The coat of arms is divided into two parts:

On the left : red background (gules) decorated with stars and a chariot, symbol of movement and power.
On the right : a crowned royal figure, dressed in red, on a silver field with red pales.
Above, a banner bears the motto "Moderata Durant" .

The whole is surrounded by a baroque frame of carved and gilded wood , with scrolls and volutes. Despite wear and chips, the original polychromy remains clearly legible and gives the piece a great deal of authenticity.

The motto “Moderata Durant”

This Latin motto means "Moderate things last." It is known to have been worn:

by the Soyécourt family , ancient nobility of Santerre (Picardy), whose coat of arms is "argent fretted gules".
by Hugues des Hazards , bishop count of Toul in the 16th century, who interpreted it as "What is ordered and measured is destined to last".

Thus, the motto associates political and family stability (nobility) with a spiritual and moral dimension (Church).

Such heraldic panels often adorned:

private chapels or religious buildings,

private mansions, state rooms of noble institutions.

They evoked both the prestige of the lineages and the values they intended to transmit.

This baroque coat of arms is a decorative and historical piece of great rarity. At the crossroads of the noble and religious worlds, it embodies the symbolic power of heraldry in the 17th century.