241 - Jean I PETITOT (1607–1691)

Jean I PETITOT (1607–1691) Portrait of Louis XIV as Hercules, circa 1680 Enamel miniature mounted on a gold and tortoiseshell box, crushed master’s mark: likely RV, different key, rooster hallmark, 3rd title, province 1798–1809. H: 5.2 cm L: 7.6 cm Slight wear to the case. Provenance: - Probably a royal or princely gift from the court of Louis XIV - French private collection Related works: - Octagonal snuffbox by Charles Ouzille, circa 1778/1779, decorated with a portrait of the king as Hercules by Petitot, Louvre Museum, Paris, INV. OA 6817. - Jean Petitot, Louis XIV of Bourbon, King of France, circa 1670, enamel on gold, House of Orange-Nassau, Netherlands. - Jean Petitot, Portrait of Louis XIV as Hercules, Fondation Napoléon, Paris. - Jean Petitot, Louis XIV, Sotheby’s auction of November 10, 1969, lot 11, London - Attributed to Jean Petitot, Portrait of Louis XIV, Genève Enchères auction of December 6, 2023, lot 82, Geneva. - Jean Petitot and workshop, Portrait of Louis XIV as Hercules, Nelson-Hatkinson Museum. Our exceptional miniature by Jean Petitot depicting Louis XIV is a valuable testament to the practice of royal portraiture and diplomatic gifts during the reign of the Sun King. A native of Geneva, Jean Petitot perfected, beginning in the 1640s, a remarkable enamel painting technique that allowed him to achieve, despite the small size of his works, extraordinary precision and finesse. Louis XIV is depicted here as a modern-day Hercules. The carcass of the Nemean lion rests on his shoulder, while the broad blue ribbon of the Order of the Holy Spirit crosses his chest. The identification of the sovereign with the ancient hero plays a key role in shaping the image of Louis XIV: Hercules embodies the monarch’s strength and heroic virtue. This iconography underwent several developments in the official art of the reign, notably in the work of Charles Le Brun. This composition represents a particularly rare variation on the more traditional portraits of Louis XIV in armor created by Petitot and his workshop. Research has identified several comparable enamel works: notably a piece from the House of Orange-Nassau, a portrait of Louis XIV as Hercules held by the Fondation Napoléon, and a piece that sold at Sotheby’s in London in 1969. These small portraits of the sovereign could be set in elaborate frames of gold and precious stones and served as royal or diplomatic gifts, the quality of which varied according to the recipient’s status. The king’s effigy thus became a precious object that could be worn as a tangible token of the sovereign’s favor. Many of these settings were dismantled, and the enamels gradually came to be regarded as works of art in their own right. The collection of the famous numismatist Abraham-Joseph Michelet d’Ennery provides a remarkable example of this. Upon his death in 1786, his series of enamel portraits attributed to Petitot—described as one of the most remarkable of its time and comprising some sixty pieces—was acquired for Louis XVI by the Count d’Angiviller, even before the auction took place. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these antique enamels—along with copies based on Petitot’s work—were reused on luxury snuffboxes and cases, crafted notably by leading Parisian goldsmiths such as Adrien-Jean-Maximilien Vachette, Pierre-André Montauban Blerzy, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot, and the Ouizille family. The presence of a portrait of Louis XIV on these snuffboxes—which were then considered extremely valuable objects—could be seen as a sign of royalist political allegiance in the early 19th century. Specimen made of sea turtle shell (spp.). Complies with EC Regulation 338/97, Art. 2.w.mc, dated December 9, 1996. Specimen predating June 1, 1947. However, for export outside the EU, a CITES re-export permit will be required, the cost of which is the responsibility of the future purchaser.