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Tue 11 Jun

Théodore Gudin (Paris 1802 - 1880 Boulogne-Billancourt) - Théodore Gudin (Paris 1802 - 1880 Boulogne-Billancourt) Grenoble: View of the Isère River from the Right Bank, with the Tour de l'Isle, the Wooden Bridge, and in the Distance, the Bell Tower of the Collegiate Church of Saint-André Oil on paper, mounted on canvas 38.7 x 62 cm. On the back, a red wax stamp, probably dating from the mid-19th century. Related work : - Gudin, Vue de Grenoble, circa 1825, oil on paper mounted on canvas, 38 x 62 cm, signed, Paris, Galerie La Nouvelle Athènes - Gudin, Vue de Grenoble, circa 1826, oil on canvas, 75 x 127 cm, signed and dated 1826, exhibited at the 1827 Salon, Sotheby's Amsterdam sale, April 19, 2005, lot 129 (under the title "Town by a river"); private collection, present location unknown - I.-L. Deroy, after Gudin, Vue de Grenoble, c. 1830, lithograph in J. Vatout and J.-P. Quénot, Galerie lithographiée de Son Altesse royale Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, Paris, 1830, vol. 1 The view offered by the capital of Dauphiné to travelers returning from Italy must have been highly picturesque for Romantic-era plein-air landscape artists, as several of them depicted it: Louis-Etienne Watelet, Charles Jean Guérard, Gudin. We know of another study on paper, in the same format, in the artist's own hand, featuring the same panorama and anecdotal details (boats, clouds, figures). The final painting had an interesting history: in reaction to the siege of Missolonghi, which was supposed to have suppressed Greek aspirations to independence, the young guard of the art world organized an exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Lebrun, in their support. It featured this "Vue de Grenoble" (no. 105), along with four other works by Gudin. Presumably acquired by the Duc d'Orléans, this view, engraved by Deroy, appears in the album of his "Galerie lithographiée" published in 1830.

Estim. 1 500 - 2 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Edouard DUBUFE. 1819-1883. Attribué à, - Édouard DUBUFE. 1819-1883. Attributed to, Portrait of Rachel Félix Second half of the 19th century Oil on canvas H. 73 cm x L. 60 cm Antique label on back: "Dubufe (Édouard), born in Paris, pupil of his father and P. Delaroche / Hors concours / Rue d'Aumale 15". Dubufe a famous nineteenth-century Parisian academic painter-portraitist Édouard Dubufe was an academic portrait painter of the 19th century, the son and father of two other artists forming the "Dubufe dynasty", a family of painters whose activity spanned several generations and more than a century. Son of Claude-Marie Dubufe (1790-1864) and father of Guillaume Dubufe (1853-1909), Edouard Dubufe, born in Paris in 1819, began his career at the Salon in 1839, where he immediately received a third-class medal and a state purchase. He followed in the footsteps of his father Claude-Marie, who taught him and the painter Paul Delaroche. He was also a descendant of Ingres and Théodore Chassériau. Adopting the "recipes" of his father Claude-Marie, who worked in the neo-classical movement where drawing prevailed over color, Édouard Dubufe was, like him, close to power, as evidenced by his Portraits of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. Nevertheless, the artist diversified his clientele. While he painted many female models from the aristocracy and upper middle classes, he also portrayed artists, such as the portraits of tragedienne Rachel and painter Rosa Bonheur presented at the 1857 Salon. Today, posterity retains the artist's memory mainly as an abundant gallery of Second Empire female portraits, of elegant women in luxurious gowns. Mlle Rachel, a star of her time Rachel (Elisabeth Rachel Félix, 1821-1858) was the first theater star. She was born Elisa-Rachel Félix on February 28, 1821, in Mumpf, Rheinfelden, Aargau. Even as a child, she earned money singing in the streets. She arrived in Paris in 1830 with the intention of becoming an actress. She took elocution and singing lessons, then studied under the musician Alexandre-Étienne Choron and Saint-Aulaire. She took drama classes and made her debut in La Vendéenne at the Théâtre du Gymnase in January 1837. Auditioned in March 1838, she entered the Comédie-Française at the age of 17. She debuted as Camille in Pierre Corneille's tragedy Horace. Her success was immediate. Her fame spread throughout Europe after a tour of London in 1841. She was often associated with the works of Racine, Voltaire and Corneille, to which she gave new impetus through her voice and acting. She created the title role in Eugène Scribe's Adrienne Lecouvreur, in which the artist seems to have represented her. The image of a performance The artist, who also likes to depict artists' portraits, is moving away from her neat paintings of aristocratic women in shimmering gowns. In our cruder work, the actress Rachel appears in a role, perhaps that of Adrienne Lecouvreur, herself an actress. She doesn't pose, but is captured on the spot, almost like a photograph. In other words, she is portrayed at the height of her art, and the expression on her face bears witness to all her talents as a tragedienne. This is what the painter is trying to capture, not just a portrait of the beautiful Madame Felix, but the immortal image of the talented Rachel.

Estim. 2 000 - 3 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Ottilie Roederstein (Zurich 1859 - 1937 Hofheim am Taunus) - Ottilie Roederstein (Zurich 1859 - 1937 Hofheim am Taunus) "Writing child": young schoolboy with slate tablet Oil on canvas (original canvas from the Paul Foinet house) 81 x 65 cm. Signed, localized and dated lower left: Paris 1885 On back, ink mark on stretcher: 186 Exhibition: Most probably the painting exhibited at the 1886 Salon des Artistes Français, no. 2041, under the title "Enfant écrivant". Ottilie Roederstein, born in Zurich and educated at the Beaux-Arts in Berlin and with Karl Gussow in Bern, moved to Paris in 1882, following her classmate and close friend Annie Hopf. There, she frequented the studios of Carolus-Duran and Jean-Jacques Henner, and was one of the first women to study the academic nude in evening sessions, which was considered rather inappropriate for female students. She exhibited her work at the Salons from 1884 onwards, and ran a studio, open to women in particular, at 77, rue Notre-Dame des Champs. In a photograph of this studio, dating from before 1887, our painting is on an easel, probably awaiting its presentation at the 1886 Salon (ill.1). This eight-year stay in Paris played a major role in the blossoming of his talent, as witnessed by two portraits painted at the same period as ours, using the same subtle, minimal palette and playing on shades of grey (ill.2.& 3.), now preserved in Frankfurt. The year of our painting was also the year of an encounter that changed the artist's personal life: in the summer of 1885, during a visit to her parents' home in Zurich, Ottilie met Elizabeth Winterhalter, a surgeon and gynecologist, who was to become her companion and the love of her life. After Paris, Ottilie moved to the banks of the Main in 1890, followed by Elizabeth in 1891, and her career took off. Popular and medal-winning, she was assigned a studio in Frankfurt's Stadel Museum, which today houses some of her work, as well as her archives. Illustration legend: -View of the studio at 77, rue Notre-Dame des Champs, 1885-1887. -Portrait of Dr. Elisabeth Winterthalter, 1887. Städel Museum Frankfurt, inv. 2033 -Portrait of a painter in a Paris studio, 1887. Städel Museum Frankfurt, inv. SG 424 Self-portrait of the artist, 1904, Städel Museum Frankfurt, inv. SG 134

Estim. 4 000 - 6 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), Entourage de. - Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), Entourage de. Portrait of Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Géricault Circa 1824, pencil, watercolor and gum arabic on vellum mounted on cardboard Glued to the back, a label from the Gosselin sale catalog with the handwritten inscription "aquarelle". 32 x 24 cm Attributes of the arts Pencil, ink and stump on cardboard Inscription : La méduse 6.5 x 20.5 cm Provenance : - De Musigny Collection - Madame de Champy Collection - Madame Tullier-Blum Collection - Madame Amiel Collection - Collection Larrey (?) - Gosselin sale March 7, 1953 Bibliography : - Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault, étude critique, documents et catalog raisonné. Vol. 2, L'OEuvre: Période de formation. Paris, 1987, p. 331, which relates the work to Horace Vernet's portrait of Géricault. N°17, reproduced. - Lorenz Eitner, Géricault sa vie, son œuvre. p. 244, translation Paris 1991. ill. 129 (related work). Handwritten inscription on back: "Portrait painted (or drawn or colored) by himself. The attributes of this portrait are by his friend M. De Musigny. This portrait was given by M. de Musigny to Madame Champy, who left it as a souvenir to Mme de Tullier-Blum. It was offered to me by his daughter Madame Amiel in his memory (see her letter of May 25, 1875). Larrey (?)" Géricault, icon of Romanticism Théodore Géricault, whose death today marks the bicentenary of his death, 1824 - 2024, was an artist who revolutionized painting in the early 19th century. Characterized by his attraction to pathos and tragedy, his vision of the nascent Romantic movement inspired an entire movement. Romantic painters who knew him or followed his painting precepts were almost devoutly devoted to him. His relics often haunted their studios, and death masks, sculptures in his hand and brushes that had belonged to him were commonplace. So much so, in fact, that the death mask, the artist's last portrait, was the most widely distributed, along with that of the former emperor, who had died three years earlier. Our portrait, whose authorship is open to debate, is a testimony to this era and its transmission, among which relics recall the artist's memory. Complex in execution, our watercolor demonstrates the artist's technical skill. The image itself is reminiscent of the portrait painted by Horace Vernet around 1822, 1823. As mentioned above, the infatuation with the artist's image gave rise to many vocations at the turn of the 1820s and 1830s, and it is difficult to give our work to the artist or to an admirer. As for the provenance, it is exemplary: the various owners were more or less closely related to the artist. The note on the reverse indicating this is signed by Félix Hippolyte Larrey (1808 - 1895), son of Dominique - Jean - Larrey, surgeon to Napoleon I's armies, and himself to Napoleon III, the family also being very close to Girodet, whose personal physician was Dominique Larrey.

Estim. 2 000 - 3 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), attribué à. - Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), attributed to. Bataille Héroïque or The Battle of Eurymedon, after Salvator Rosa Oil on canvas 37.5 x 46 cm, Provenance : - Probably sale after the artist's death November 2, 1824, part of number 23 - Probably from the collection of Mr. Jamar (Géricault's former pupil) - French private collection Bibliography : - G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault, Paris, 1986, vol. II, p. 298, no. 330, no. 331, no. 332, no. 333 - C. Clément, Géricault Étude biographique et critique, Paris, 1879, no. 163. - L. Eitner, C. Clément, Géricault Supplément, Paris, 1973, p. 457 Géricault and copying from the Masters In this year of 2024, the bicentenary of Théodore Géricault's death, the task of attribution has never been so complicated and delicate, and he unleashed the passions of his contemporaries as well as our own. A painter of horses par excellence, Géricault's death made him a symbol of Romanticism used by his friends, including Delacroix, Vernet and Scheffer, as evidenced by the distribution of his relics, such as his death mask, in their studios. His romance with his aunt, who gave birth to a child, his love of horses and his brief involvement in the King's Musketeer Company during the Hundred Days and Louis XVIII's flight, are all elements of the romance. Although he died very young, at the age of 32, he left an important legacy and a large body of work that is still little known today. His mostly unsigned canvases have been copied and reinterpreted, sometimes by great hands, making it difficult to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. In such cases, the only thing that counts is traceability and knowledge of his color palette, his touch and his very particular drawing, to enable us to render his work to the best of our ability. Géricault is an accomplished copyist, one of those artists for whom copying is an exercise in reinterpretation. His corpus of copies, poorly known today, is extremely extensive, as evidenced by the catalog of his after-death sale and the list drawn up by Charles Clément in 1868 in his first catalog raisonné. Among the most famous copies are the extraordinary Cheval Blanc head after Carle Vernet, preserved in the Louvre and a true "portrait" of a horse, and the equestrian portraits after Van Dyck in the San Francisco Fine Art Museum. The subject of our painting copies the lower right-hand section of Salvator Rosa's Bataille Héroïque in the Louvre. This painting was inspired by the battle of Eurymedon (469 or 466 BC), which pitted the Greek army of Cimon, the Greek strategist, against the Persian army at the mouth of the Eurymedon. This great painting was already in Louis XIV's collection. Charles Clément, Géricault's first catalog raisonné, states at number 163 of his 1868 catalog, "La Bataille, by Salvator Rosa, Musée du Louvre. Cette esquisse a été faite en une seule séance, elle a appartenu a Mr. Jamar", noting that Alexis Louis Jamar (1800-1865) was still alive at the time of Clément's early research. Although he was probably intent on enshrining his former master in legend, he was an unhoped-for source for Clément, whose account appeared almost 44 years after Jamar's death. Our painting not only corresponds to the dimensions quoted by Clément, it is also a quick sketch. It breaks away completely from Salvator Rosa's original to offer a virtuoso reinterpretation of the heart of the combat, where Géricault naturally chooses to focus on the melee of the horses. Sought-after by specialists such as Lorenz Eitner and Germain Bazin, this painting was previously unknown to us. The various candidates cited or passed on the art market to date have never fulfilled all the conditions, in terms of dimensions and descriptions. For a serial artist like Géricault, it is highly likely that there were several copies of the same painting, interpreted in different ways, so there may be originals in the aforementioned works that are simply not those in the Jamar collection. A painting of the same subject sold as by Théodore Géricault on November 21, 1996 in London (20,700GBP) is worthy of note. This painting, assimilated to Jamar's, but of really distant dimensions (43.7 x 64.5 cm.) had the good feeling of Lorenz Eitner, but had been rejected by Germain Bazin. While the question of its attribution is open to debate, there is no doubt as to its provenance.

Estim. 8 000 - 12 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

François GERARD. (1770-1837) - François GERARD (1770-1837) Study of Henri IV's head for his entry into Paris on March 22, 1594 Circa 1816 Pencil, brown wash, stump Dimensions: 13 x 11 cm François Gérard was born in Rome in 1770, where his father was steward to Cardinal de Bernis, French ambassador to the Pope. At the age of twelve, he left Rome for Paris. Showing an aptitude for drawing from an early age, he first joined the studio of sculptor Augustin Pajou, which was more affordable for his parents than training with a painter. He then continued his training with Nicolas Guy Brenet, a painter at the Académie. At the age of fourteen, he presented his master with a completed composition of a history painting, begging to be allowed to paint it. Faced with Brenet's categorical refusal, Gérard persisted, completing a composition of La Peste in just a few days. This early work already revealed the talent of the future painter. In 1786, Jacques Louis David's Oath of the Horatii overturned the established aesthetic and fascinated aspiring painters, who flocked to the artist's studio. Among them was Gérard, who initiated himself into the grand genre, painting historical and allegorical subjects. In 1789, he was defeated by his rival Girodet on the theme of Joseph recognized by his brothers, and came second in the Grand Prix de Rome. The following year, the death of his father led him to abandon the competition and travel to Rome at his own expense. His stay was short-lived, however, and he had no choice but to return to Paris, fearing that he would be put on the list of immigrants and lose his family's meager pension. Losing his mother in 1793, he had to support his two brothers alone. He was then selected by David, alongside Girodet and Chauvet, to take part in a new project conceived by publisher Pierre Didot. Didot, who had taken over the family publishing house with his brother, had come up with an ambitious new collection of antique works illustrated by the best artists of the day in a monumental format: the in-folio. Gérard produced plates for the prestige editions of Virgil's works published in 1798 and Racine's works published in 1799. In 1794, Gérard's drawing of August 10th 1792 won him first prize in a competition organized by the Convention, and a room and studio in the Louvre. A talented history painter and portraitist, his career spanned the period from the Revolution to the Restoration. Under the Restoration, in 1814, François Gérard, whose reputation was already well established, painted the portrait of Louis XVIII in royal costume. At the same time as the painting was being created, he was commissioned to paint the Entrée d'Henri IV by the monarch, who wanted to prove the legitimacy of the Bourbons' blood ties with Henri IV. This monumental painting was completed three years later, and enjoyed great success at the 1817 Salon. In 1833, King Louis-Philippe decided to transform the Château de Versailles into a French historical museum. The Galerie des Batailles was inaugurated in 1839. Thirty-three monumental canvases - including Gérard's Entrée d'Henri IV - are on display, depicting military episodes from French history. L'Entrée d'Henri IV à Paris is an oil on canvas, 5.10 m high and 9.58 m long. It depicts Henri IV's entry into Paris in 1594, after his coronation in Chartres. This historic event is known from engravings commissioned by Henri IV and produced during his lifetime. Gérard drew his inspiration from these prints, and his composition focuses on the handing over of the keys of the city to the king by the provost of the merchants, near the Porte Neuve. The scene is intended as a historical fresco. The figures gather in groups around the bareheaded king on horseback. The entire work is organized around the figure of Henri IV, whom the painter took care to study and compose in our office. This work takes up the dimensions of many of Gérard's studies, such as the preparatory drawing for the Portrait of Caroline Murat and her Children, and the sketch of a standing woman in the Louvre. It would appear that all these studies were taken from the artist's sketchbook.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Elève du peintre Robert LEFEVRE. 1755-1830. - Pupil of painter Robert LEFEVRE. 1755-1830. Bust portrait of Napoleon in coronation costume. Circa 1806. Oil on canvas, gilded wood frame. 65 x 54 cm Bust portrait of Emperor Napoleon in coronation regalia, wearing his red cloak with golden bees and the large collar of the Legion of Honor on his ermine. This is probably a study of the modelo used in Robert Lefèvre's workshop to produce the numerous replicas commissioned by the French government. A former pupil of the painter Regnault, Robert Lefèvre had won renown as a portraitist through the Salons, where he exhibited from 1791. At the time, he was particularly appreciated by his contemporaries for the resemblance he gave to his models and the precision of the details and decorations in his works. Thanks to the protection of Denon, then director of the Beaux-Arts and the Musée du Louvre, Robert Lefèvre became one of the main suppliers to the Emperor's household, executing over forty large-scale portraits of the Emperor in full coronation regalia or uniform, as well as of the Empress; these commissions were destined for the Grand Corps de l'Etat and imperial palaces in France and abroad. The painter also supplied the Grand Chamberlain's gift department with numerous miniatures of the Emperor, to decorate snuffboxes and watches given as diplomatic gifts. The uneven quality of some replicas could be criticized, notably for the somewhat frozen appearance of the model, a fault that can be explained by the enormous output of the painter's studio; but it should be noted that all official portraits were intended by the painter himself. Nevertheless, Robert Lefèvre remained highly appreciated by the Emperor, who was said to have noticed the resemblance of these portraits, and no doubt also the absence of tedious breaks. On the strength of this favor, the artist worked extensively for the imperial family, in particular Princess Pauline, Lucien and the Clary family, and Madame Mère, who commissioned several large-format works from him. In addition to portraits of the Emperor and the imperial family, he was also commissioned to paint portraits of the regime's leading dignitaries, marshals and ministers of the imperial court: for the Salon des Maréchaux in the Tuileries, Augereau duc de Castiglione (1804) and Oudinot duc de Reggio (1811), ministers Mollien (1806), Maret duc de Bassano (1807), Régnier duc de Massa (1808) Savary duc de Rovigo (1814), and among the Grand Officers of the Crown, Montesquiou Grand Chambellan (1810), Prince Lebrun archtreasurer of the Empire (1811), and others. A true "iconographer of the Empire", Robert Lefevre was a favorite for painting the imperial family, dignitaries and high society figures, both officially and in private. Among the many commissions given to the artist, it is difficult to distinguish in the archives between portraits of the emperor in coronation costume and those in uniform. However, it seems that 18 versions in imperial garb were made, notably for Madame Mère and Joseph Bonaparte. At least one replica, without the gold laurel wreath, was made for Marshal Soult. Like the uniformed versions, a bust portrait was painted by the artist to serve as a model for the replicas, or presented to the studio's students for copying practice. Related works - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1806. Salon of 1806. The artist's first commission for the Salle de réunion du Sénat (location unknown). - Napoleon in coronation costume (uncrowned). 1807. Château de Soultberg, family of Marshal Soult. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1807. Provenance Madame mère, then by descent Bathilde Bonaparte, comtesse de Cambacérès, Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1808. Presumed to have come from Joseph Bonaparte, now at the Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'Honneur in Saint-Denis. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1809. Commissioned for the Château de Fontainebleau, Mme Tussaud's collection, now defunct. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1809. Purchased in 1949 by the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1811. Musée de Versailles, MV 5134. Commissioned by the Corps législatif for the Palais Bourbon in 1811; Salon of 1812, no. 779. - Napoleon in coronation costume. 1813. Sotheby's London sale, July 9, 2015 n°105, copy of Madame mère, Sir Steward collection in 1816. Bibliography - J.-P. Samoyault, art. Le portrait de Napoléon par Robert Lefèvre, in Un Palais pour l'Empereur, Napoléon à Fontainebleau, ed. by Jean Vittet. Exhibition September 2021 - January 2022.

Estim. 400 - 600 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Robert LEFEVRE.1755-1830. - Robert LEFEVRE.1755-1830. Portrait of Joseph Bonaparte circa 1807 Oil on canvas 65 cm x 55 cm Our portrait of Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), eldest of the Bonaparte family, King of Naples and later King of Spain, is a major rediscovery in the body of work by Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830). It is the posed painting for the portrait, signed and dated 1807, in Lord Rosebery's collection at Dalmeny House in Edinburgh. This Napoleonic collection, one of the most important of its kind outside France, was assembled at the end of the 19th century by Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929), 5th Earl of Rosebery, a great collector of works of art and objects associated with Napoleon, and also includes three other portraits by Robert Lefèvre, of Madame mère, Empress Josephine and Empress Marie-Louise. Only the three female portraits by Robert Lefèvre hang in the salon, the portrait of Joseph probably being kept in reserve. Our painting is the preparatory study for the portrait of Joseph Bonaparte, painted by Robert Lefèvre in 1807 and now in the collection of Lord Rosebery at Dalmeny House. In our preparatory study, the painter Robert Lefèvre reveals all his talents as a portraitist. The simplicity of the pose, with its lightly sketched smile, and the intensity of the gaze of Napoleon's elder brother strike the viewer. A certain temperance and intelligence emanate from this man of letters, who enjoyed the company of writers and artists, "sparing himself time for pleasures and not knowing how to renounce any good fortune, especially feminine". King of Naples since 1806, he would have seen himself as an enlightened monarch, something Napoleon abhorred. The model is elegantly dressed in a green coat, with a white collar, and shows no sign of power. The face is a perfect likeness, round with a slightly open forehead. "His handsome figure expressed all the amiable qualities of heart and mind. Throughout his reign in Italy, Joseph multiplied his female adventures, unable to resist the amiability of the ladies of Naples. The portrait is brilliantly painted, with life flowing beneath the mask. The finesse of the colors and the expression make this a work of great quality. Under the Empire, Robert Lefèvre was recognized as the specialist painter of official portraits, most of them gaudy and conventional. However, Lefèvre was more than just a fashionable portraitist. He sought the same resemblance and precision in faces. He is probably the painter who, of all the portraitists of Napoleon's era, most faithfully captured the resemblance between the copy and the original. In our preparatory study, the artist brilliantly captures Joseph Bonaparte's personality. In the final portrait of Joseph Bonaparte, signed and dated 1807, in the Scottish collection of Lord Rosebery, the painter uses the same posture and facial features as in the preparatory study. However, for the official portrait of the emperor's elder brother, a member of the Grand Council of the Legion of Honor, Robert Lefèvre added the red cord and the silver plate with five double rays and the imperial eagle at its center. Joseph Bonaparte appears as a man with power. The posterity of Joseph Bonaparte's portrait The Miniature of Joseph Bonaparte by Sophie Liénard (1801-1875) at the Fondation Napoléon, part of a collection of thirteen miniatures on ceramic made around 1840, features the same framing (face inverted) and symbols of power as the portrait at Dalmeny House. The same is true of the engraved portrait of Joseph Bonaparte by Mauduison, circa 1850 (Publisher: Furne, Paris).

Estim. 6 000 - 8 000 EUR

Tue 11 Jun

Portrait en buste de Charles X (1757-1836) en costume de sacre - Bust portrait of Charles X (1757-1836) in coronation costume French school Restoration period Oil on canvas 81 x 64 cm The last king in French history to be crowned in Reims in 1825, Charles X called on the great portraitists of his time, including Baron Gérard, Robert Lefèvre, Paulin-Guerin and Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres, to solemnly represent him in coronation regalia. For his official portrait, Charles X preferred the one painted by Baron Gérard. The image, which is not lacking in poise, was approved by the king for reproduction in large numbers, for weaving at the Gobelins manufactory and for distribution via intaglio engraving. Our portrait, whose author is unknown, is probably a provincial work from the Restoration period. Charles X is shown in bust, turned three-quarter, his face set against a red drapery. Unlike his brother Louis XVIII, whom he succeeded, Charles X had an amiable, seductive manner: "gracious, elegant, debonair, obliging, eager to please, he knew how to combine bonhomie with dignity". The king, who sincerely believes in the bond of love that unites him with his subjects, looks the viewer in the face, as if to convince him of the legitimacy of his power. Unlike his elder brother Louis XVI, who reigned as an absolute monarch, Charles X exercised his power within the framework of a constitutional monarchy since the Charter of 1814. He therefore had to look his subjects in the eye, whereas his elder brother, in his portrait by Callet, gazed into the distance, smiling vaguely, placing himself above the common people. King Charles X was nostalgic for the Ancien Régime, and his portrait by Baron Gérard revived the formulas used in pre-Revolutionary royal portraits, even though fifty years had elapsed between the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, crowned in Reims in 1775, and that of Charles X. In our portrait, the king wears the great coronation mantle, made of azure-blue velvet embroidered with gold fleurs-de-lis and trimmed with ermine fur, a lace cravat tied around his neck and, in saltire, the great collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit. The latter, created by Henri III, consists of a gold collar enamelled with the letters "H" for Henri, royal symbols and fleur-de-lys with flames, to which is affixed the cross of the Order of Malta. The latter is adorned with a dove with wings spread upside down, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. On our effigy, the King looks younger than on the portrait painted by Baron Gérard in 1825. His hair is light brown, not graying. He is portrayed as a prince of youth, reminiscent of the elegant, graceful hero who made a triumphal entry into Paris in 1814 through the Porte Saint-Denis. In reality, the king was sixty-seven at the time of his coronation. The emphasis is on the sumptuousness of the costume and decorations, as Charles X wanted to restore the pomp of the Ancien Régime. The function of this studio copy was certainly to convey the royal image, with each royal portrait understood as a substitute for the monarch's real presence. Charles X, the last Bourbon to reign over France, was overthrown in July 1830: his open bigotry and the hold exerted over him by the most reactionary coteries had alienated a large part of public opinion. He lost his throne to his cousin Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, the embodiment of modernity. He died in exile in 1836. "Charles X is as I have painted him, gentle, though prone to anger, kind and tender with his familiars, amiable, light, without gall, having everything of the knight, devotion, nobility, elegant courtesy, but intermingled with weakness, which does not exclude passive courage and the glory of dying well ; unable to follow through with a good or bad resolution; molded by the prejudices of his century and rank; in an ordinary age, a decent king; in an extraordinary age, a man of perdition, not misfortune", writes Chateaubriand, painting a tragic picture of a dynasty in the process of dying out.

Estim. 1 000 - 1 500 EUR
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