13 - Two large Atlantean figures

Two large Atlantean figures in stained walnut, depicting chained slaves, on painted bases imitating marble from a later period (H: 66 cm); (damage and restorations). Attributed to Pierre Vaneau (1653–1694). Louis XIV period, circa 1680–1690. H: 142 cm Provenance: Probably Armand de Béthune (1635–1703) at the Château de Monistrol-sur-Loire (Haute-Loire), probably André Nolhac, a merchant in Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) in 1712, Château d’Allex (Drôme), used as mantel posts for a fireplace; provenance attested by F. Vialet in the 1970s and by a photograph from 1986 (Ill. 1) Emile Apostoly (1924–2013) in Aubres (Drôme), private collection, auction in Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, December 5, 1989, lot 105, private collection. Bibliography: – F. Vialet and Y. Soulingeas, *French Sculpture in the 17th Century: Pierre Vaneau*, 1980. – Bresc-Bautier, Geneviève, “The Imaginary Museum of Pierre Vaneau, Sculptor of Le Puy (1653–1694),” *Revue de l’Art*, no. 87, 1990, 59–83. The connection between these two Atlantean figures and the work of Pierre Vaneau (1653–1694)—already established when they were offered for sale in Paris in 1989—is based, on the one hand, on the provenance of these two sculptures and, on the other hand, on their style. Pierre Vaneau’s career was closely tied to his principal patron, the bishop of Le Puy (now Le Puy-en-Velay) Armand de Béthune (1635–1703), who died at his château in Monistrol-sur-Loire (Haute-Loire). Information gathered from the owner during the 1989 sale (op. cit.) mentions their inclusion in an inventory drawn up at that time, which remained in private hands. An auction took place a few years later in 1712, during which the two atlantes were reportedly purchased by a merchant from Le Puy-en-Velay named André Nolhac, who is said to have sold them to the owners of the Château d’Allex (Drôme), the de La Tour du Pin family. This hypothesis regarding their provenance is clearly supported by the mention of a photograph showing the two Atlantean figures used as mantelpieces at the Château d’Allex (Revue de Saint Joseph d’Allex, No. 868, May–June 1986, p. 28). This information was corroborated at the time by the testimony of Frédérique Vialet, author of the book on Pierre Vaneau (op. cit.). It is also very interesting to note that the seller, at the 1989 auction, stated that he had purchased two other works by Vaneau at the same time as the Atlantean figures: a group depicting *The Battle of the Lion and the Hydra* (sic), lot no. 136 in the 1989 auction catalog, which also included the Atlanteans, as well as the relief from the Saint-Maurice mausoleum acquired by the Louvre in 1986 (RF 3765). The three works by Pierre Vaneau were thus part of the same collection prior to 1986, having been acquired together from the painter Émile Apostoly. Pierre Vaneau’s style is strongly influenced by the classical models reinterpreted by the great Mannerist artists of the Italian Renaissance. Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, in a major article on the work of Pierre Vaneau (op. cit.), demonstrated the extent to which the influences of engravings after Raphael, Michelangelo, Pierre di Cortona, and Annibale Carracci had a profound impact on Pierre Vaneau’s work. The article examines in detail the monument to John III Sobieski, King of Poland, and publishes (following F. Vialet in 1980) the four slaves that once served as its pedestal (Musée du Puy-en-Velay and a private collection), thereby ruling out the hypothesis put forward by the 1989 auction catalog attributing our two Atlanteans to that monument. It should be noted that it was also commissioned by Armand de Béthune, in whose possession, at the time of his death in Monistrol, a significant number of fragments of Vaneau’s work were found. Both the poses and the facial features of our Atlanteans bear strong similarities, particularly to the highly expressive faces of the slaves (who are also chained slaves) in the mausoleum, as well as to the figure of John Sobieski himself (Royal Palace in Warsaw).