189 - Jacques-Louis DAVID (1748–1825)

Jacques-Louis DAVID (1748–1825) Study for the Portrait of Countess Vilain XIIII (front) / Study for Mars and Rhea Silvia (back). Black chalk. 1816. Inscription in pen and black ink in the upper right corner: “4.” Framed. H. 12.8 x W. 7.4 cm. Frame: H. 34 x W. 30 cm. Provenance - Folio 4 detached from Jacques-Louis David’s sketchbook 14 (Dreesmann Collection sketchbook). - Collection of Angélique Mongez (1775–1855), a student of Jacques-Louis David. - Collection of Hippolyte Destailleur (1822–1893). - His estate sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 26–27, 1893. - Agnew’s, London (label on the reverse, no. 29337). - Private French collection. History Our black chalk drawing features, on the front, a study for the Portrait of Countess Vilain XIIII and Her Daughter, painted by David during the first year of his exile in Brussels and now in the collection of the National Gallery in London (ill. 1). The reverse side of the sheet depicts an episode from the founding of Rome: Mars and Rhea Silvia. A testament to Jacques-Louis David’s years of exile in Belgium, this work reveals two facets of the artist: his devotion to historical and mythological subjects, and his great skill as a portraitist. On January 27, 1816, Jacques-Louis David and his wife, now unwelcome in Paris, arrived in Brussels. A staunch supporter of Napoleon I, the painter chose exile following the emperor’s downfall. He then frequented many prominent Brussels figures and former loyalists of the Emperor, for whom he painted portraits. Notably, he painted the portrait of François Antoine Rasse, Prince of Gavre (ill. 2), son of Charles-Alexandre François, who served as Marshal of the Court of the Netherlands after having served Napoleon as a chamberlain and prefect. It was in this context that he painted the portrait of Countess Vilain XIIII, another figure in Brussels society closely linked to the Napoleonic cause. Her husband, Philippe Vilain XIIII, a former mayor of Ghent, had been ennobled by Napoleon in 1811; the Roman numerals in his name are said to derive from an ancestor who handed over the keys to Ghent to King Louis XIV. The countess herself had been a lady-in-waiting to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife, after whom she named her daughter. Our drawing is a preparatory sketch for this famous painting. It is part of a series of studies executed by the painter for the portraits he created during his years in exile, such as folio 2 of the same sketchbook (ill. 3), devoted to the portrait of General Étienne Maurice Gérard (ill. 4), who was also forced into exile in Brussels following the fall of the First Empire. Related Works - Jacques-Louis David, sketchbook 14, circa 1816, Dreesmann Collection. - Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of Countess Vilain XIIII and Her Daughter, 1816, London, National Gallery, inv. NG6545 (ill. 1). - Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of François Antoine Rasse, Prince of Gavre, 1816, private collection (ill. 2). - Jacques-Louis David, Study for the Portrait of General Étienne Maurice Gérard, folio 2 of sketchbook 14, 1816, Dreesmann Collection (ill. 3). - Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of General Étienne Maurice Gérard, 1816, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 65.14.5 (ill. 4). Bibliography - Schnapper, Antoine, and Sérullaz, Arlette (eds.), Jacques-Louis David 1748–1825, exhibition catalog, Paris, Musée du Louvre; Versailles, Musée national du château, October 26, 1989–February 12, 1990, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1989. - Rosenberg, Pierre, and Prat, Louis-Antoine, *Jacques-Louis David 1748–1825: A Catalog Raisonné of Drawings*, Milan: Leonardo Arte, 2002. We would like to thank Mr. Pierre Rosenberg for his assistance in drafting this entry, and in particular for confirming, after examining the work, that the drawing belongs to Jacques-Louis David’s sketchbook 14.