365 - Eugène-Ernest HILLEMACHER (1818–1887)

Eugène-Ernest HILLEMACHER (1818–1887) Astolphe and Joconde Question Fiammetta Oil on canvas, re-stretched 73.5 x 92.2 cm Provenance 1879 Salon, no. 1560 Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher exhibited this painting, depicting Astolphe and Joconde questioning Fiammetta, at the 1879 Salon at the age of 60. Having received numerous medals throughout his career and been awarded the Legion of Honor, he was exempt from the admission jury and presented this painting “out of competition.” A student of Léon Cogniet, he was by then a seasoned painter with a proven and sophisticated technique, who perfectly embodied the official art style. The works found today in several museums—such as, for example, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Besançon (The Satyr and the Passersby, inv. 2022.3.195) or the Grenoble Museum (Antoine Brought Back to Cleopatra, Dying, inv. MG 502), bear witness to his talent and success. This painting depicts a scene described in Canto XXVIII of Ariosto’s *Orlando Furioso*: Astolphe, King of the Lombards, and his friend Joconde, both betrayed by their wives, outdo one another. To take revenge, they set out to seduce women across the world, convinced that none are faithful. Later, tired of pursuing so many conquests, they agree to share a single woman, Fiammetta, in order to live in peace. However, one night Fiammetta slips her lover under the covers between the two sleeping men. The two men wake up one after the other, but each imagines that it is his friend. As they blame each other the next morning, they realize what has happened and confront Fiammetta. It is this scene that Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher chose to depict in this painting. Fiammetta, kneeling, confused and terrified, confesses, while Astolphe and Joconde laugh at the incident, impressed by the young woman’s audacity. Subsequently, the two men provide her with a dowry so she can marry her lover and return home to their respective wives with resignation and forbearance. Toward the end of his career, Hillemacher devoted himself almost exclusively to literary or romantic genre scenes. This painting, depicting a joyful fable about the futility of control, the renunciation of jealousy, detachment, and wisdom through laughter, is a perfect archetype of this body of work, which appealed to cultured art lovers both then and now.