19 - François-Marius GRANET (Aix-en-Provence, 1775–1849)

François-Marius GRANET (Aix-en-Provence, 1775–1849) Interior of the Church of the Capuchin Monastery in Frascati Oil on canvas Signed lower right Restored and re-stretched 75 x 52 cm Provenance Private collection, Parma Trained in Aix under Jean-Antoine Constantin, then in David’s studio, where he befriended Ingres, Granet traveled to Rome in the summer of 1802 with Auguste de Forbin. He made the city’s ruins, churches, cloisters, and convents the subject of his work, which focused on interiority. He conceived his famous *Choir of the Capuchin Church* during the French occupation, at a time when religious orders had just been suppressed. Exhibited at the 1819 Salon, the composition was a resounding success; he produced numerous replicas in the years that followed. Our painting dates from those years in Italy. Granet adopts an axial perspective that draws the viewer’s gaze toward the choir. The single nave, covered by cross vaults, is punctuated by arcades bathed in shadow and niches housing the four Evangelists painted by Cesare Nebbia (1536–1614). At the back, the wooden balustrade, the compartmentalized altarpiece centered on a Crucifixion, and the tombstone sealed in front of the altar reflect the layout characteristic of Capuchin churches. The monks’ choir is set back behind the high altar, in accordance with the order’s constitutions, which prescribe a single nave, unadorned decor, and the establishment of monasteries away from towns. As always in Granet’s work, light is the true subject of the painting. Streaming through the high windows on the right wall, it catches the edges of the vault and casts shadows on the pillars, then fades into the twilight of the side chapels. The priest in a red cope at the threshold of a chapel, a peasant woman kneeling beneath her white veil, an elderly man at a prie-dieu, and a few women seated on straw chairs form a discreet counterpoint to this architecture.Deeply religious and close to the Capuchins of Rome, he painted these views of their monastery just a few days before the French authorities ordered their expulsion.In this painting, we see that devout, everyday Italy—observed without exaggeration—which established the painter’s reputation and earned him the nickname “painter of the Capuchins” among his contemporaries.