SR... never liked that sucker, much like the La Couronne.
My gut tells me "pompous, monstruous, inefficient, expensive pieces of representative skills and art".
And Licorne as interpreted by Hergé does not convey this image.
I for one can not see the paralels, so let me expand my thoughts.
[without the intention to offend, or step on other peoples intricate knowledge - and without the book at hand, i last held it about 20 years ago as a Kid. I shall difg up an illegal PDF variant somewhere on the interwebzz]
The la Licorne, as drawn in the Books seems to me a bit smaller for one. Like our COAS "Poseidon" maybe. (But hopefully not as unmanoevrable!)
and i keep my focus on the original - the piece drawn by the Moviemakers is of no help i think, because it is already an interpretation of an old perspective picture, and not an objective representation of what can be seen in the book at all.
Licorne, the ship i drew many times as a Kid...
http://www.x-comics.de/bilder/produkte/gross/Tim-und-Struppi-10-Das-Geheimnis-der-Einhorn.jpg
SR, the majestic inspiration
http://www.modelships.de/Soleil_Royal/gDSC00444.jpg
where i
can see the connection Licorne - Soleil Royal:
-The general shape of the rear side windows and entire gallery. French, Frencher, Frenchiest.
I regret that Hergé never dared to paint Licorne from a rear quarter - at least not that i remember; i would have been all over that thing. But he always chose the "action/dynamic" Viewpoint. even when the small red Pirate Vessel came into play, he never dared to show the rear end of Licorne. Why, is beyond me - the man could draw, that much is sure!
- The Paintjob and choice of colors. so obvious.
- Obvious Paralels of other Objects in the Hergé world. The plane in Flight 714 for ecampleis a mix of A-5, F-14 or Mirage G... so he defnitely based Licorne on something Real, entirely or in part
where i think the Licorne
differs so much that my gut says the inspiration came from a smaller/different/later ship:
- The top gundeck is missing entirely, making her lower, less powerfull, probably several feet shorter, in general smaller. Making licorne a NOT capital Warship.
- The rear decks are less high, maybe there is one deck missing or even two, making the general shape more rounded and modern (cf. current Mordaunt/Licorne stand-ins)
- The bow section, and its details. On the SR, the bowsprit is kind of integrated in the construction.
- First the piece with the SR Figurehead, then another piece of wood. Then the Pieces that are built to encompass the Bowsprit. It is a massive and very very distinctive setup that many models, if not all, have strived to replicate. Licorne is much simpler in its construction, even if the Image conveys a sense of being richly decorated
- Numbers of guns carried. There are two darwings in the Licorne book that show the ship in its entirety - the cover, and later an entire page dedicated to only Licorne. Hergé painted these ships by hand, and counting gunports to decide the influence is not helpful. However - if Licorne had the 100+ Cannons on two full decks, and a dozen or so on the rear and fore parts of the ship, then therev are an awful lot of gunports missing. about 8 per side and deck
So, if in my eyes, SR is not the father of Liconre -
what the hell
ELSE do i think might be?
I mean, it is simple to say "No, your idea is wrong". Coming up with a plausible idea oneself is much harder.
What could have led to Licorne , i think, are ships like "Le Fourageux". Yea. 3rd rate as said earlier. Kind of "sisters" to my beloved Bellona. Call me biased...
Not so much by detail, but by overall size and layout.
http://gloryships.com/GS-V1.0/ships/horizontal/04-french-74-guns/french-74-guns-06.jpg
- the rear end is still very much "french" yet not as castle-like as the Soleil Royal...
- two full decks and a large bunch of smaller cannon fore and aft
- gun ports numbers
Or other ships like the "Achille" - which i view to be younger than licorne... but still of similar size and capacity.
Even if SR was the "uber" French ship, and remains on par with Victory in the UK... must one not be careful of their popularity, and not quickly connect other ships to them? Not every british Cruiser of WWII had its roots in the Hood or King george V either
Much less Imaginary ships used by an artiste to tell a story