ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS) - photo 1
ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS) - photo 2
ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS) - photo 3

ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS)

Starting price
€ 50 000
Auction dateClassic
15.11.2023 14:30UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
France, Paris
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ID 1071554
Lot 35 | ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS)
ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON (MONTARGIS 1767-1824 PARIS)

L'ombre d'Hector apparaît à Énée ou Le songe d'Énée

huile sur panneau

26,6 x 32,2 cm.(10 ½ x 12 5⁄8 in.)





Provenance

Atelier de l'artiste (comme 'huit compositions historiques sur bois et sur toile dont plusieurs sont tirées de l'Énéide' (État descriptif des objets d’art et autres effets mobiliers dépendant de la succession de M. Anne-Louis Girodet, n°370 (selon J.-M. Voignier, 2005, op. cit., p. 38)) ; sa vente après-décès, dans la maison de l'artiste, rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin n°55, 11 avril 1825 et jours suivants, lot 22 (comme 'Énée, pendant son sommeil, est averti par Hector d'assurer son salut par la fuite, et de soustraire aux flammes les dieux de sa patrie. Il lui apparaît tel qu'il était lorsqu'Achille le traînait à son char. Dans le fond on aperçoit la ville de Troye en feu. Esquisse peinte très terminée inspirée par le 2e livre de l'Énéide. B. l. 12. h 9 1⁄2 p.') ; d'où acquis par Antoine-Claude Pannetier (1772-1859) (pour 950 francs) (n°42 du procès-verbal de la vente (selon idem, p. 96)) ; sa vente, hôtel des commissaires-priseurs, rue Drouot, Paris, (Me Pouchet), 28 avril 1857, lot 32 (comme 'Enée averti de la prise de Troie par l'apparition d'Hector (Esquisse)').

Selon une tradition familiale, ancienne collection Prat, Paris, au début du XXe siècle; puis donné au père de l’actuel propriétaire en 1936 ; puis resté par descendance dans la famille, Paris.



Literature

P. A. Coupin, Oeuvres posthumes de Girodet-Trioson, peintre d'histoire ; suivies de sa correspondance ; précédées d'une notice historique, et mises en ordre, Paris, 1829, I, p. lxxi.

V. Bajou, S. Lemeux-Fraitot, Inventaires après décès de Gros et de Girodet. Documents inédits, s. l., 2002, pp. 350-351, n°370.

J.-M. Voignier, 'La fortune de Girodet', Bulletin de la Société d'Émulation de l'arrondissement de Montargis, avril 2005, 128-129, p. 38, n°370 et p. 96.

S. Bellenger, Girodet 1767-1824, [cat. exp.], Paris-Chicago-New York-Montréal, septembre 2005-janvier 2007, Paris, 2005, une partie de la provenance et de la bibliographie du tableau est erronément reprise sous p. 160, cat. 119 (L'ombre d'Hector apparaît à Énée ou Le songe d'Énée (Énéide, livre II, 270-279) du musée Girodet de Montargis, no. inv. 82-17).

S. Lemeux-Fraitot, 'Girodet à la croisée des chemins, recherches et méthodes', Les Cahiers de l'Histoire de l'Art, décembre 2022, 20, pp. 85-86.



Further details

ANNE-LOUIS GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON, THE GHOST OF HECTOR APPEARS TO AENEAS OR THE DREAM OF AENEAS, OIL ON PANEL

See, in dream, before my eyes, Hector seemed to stand there,
saddest of all and pouring out great tears,
torn by the chariot, as once he was, black with bloody dust,
and his swollen feet pierced by the thongs. […]
“Ah! Son of the goddess, fly, tear yourself from the flames.
The enemy has taken the walls: Troy falls from her high place.[…]
Troy entrusts her sacred relics and household gods to you:
take them as friends of your fate…’
Aeneid, Book II, 270-273, 289-290, 293-294

In this subtly powerful painting Girodet (1767-1824) follows Virgil’s (70 BC-19 BC) text to the letter, bringing to life the dream of the warrior Aeneas. With Troy burning in the background, the sleeping Trojan lieutenant is enjoined in his dream by Hector, Troy's lamented prince, to defend the city, which has been invaded in the middle of the night by Ulysses' warriors, who have emerged from the famous horse, his deceptive offering.

In around 1790, the French publisher Pierre Didot (1761-1793) commissioned the painter David (1748-1825) to produce illustrations for various forthcoming publications, including the works of Virgil and Racine. In doing this, Didot certainly aimed to compete with the English publisher Boydell (1719-1804), who had just commissioned the painters Füssli (1741-1825), West (1738-1820) and Reynolds (1723-1792) to illustrate the works of Shakespeare, by giving French painters a similar task for classical and French literature.

David, who was extremely busy, entrusted the project to two of his pupils: Gérard (1770-1837) and Girodet, though he closely supervised their work. Girodet was commissioned to draw six illustrations for the engravings, in addition to the drawing for the frontispiece. Both artists regularly sent compositions to David, which the master corrected to ensure that the work was consistent. The final engraving of the present subject that was chosen for publication was even exhibited at the Salon of 1793 as 'after David' (Cabinet des estampes, Paris, see S. Bellenger, 2005, op. cit., p. 155). Although this last version (fig. 1) differs from Girodet’s first compositions, we can see in the early studies - of which the present painting is one - the young artist's own personality, emancipated to an extent from his overpowering master. For Girodet, 1793 was also notably the year in which the Sommeil d'Endymion (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 4935) was exhibited at the Salon. The romantic sensuality of this latter is reminiscent of the pose of the sleeping Aeneas.

Girodet prepared his sketches on different supports and in different media: drawings, oils, canvas or panels. This is how a canvas copy of our Songe d'Énée came to be acquired by the Musée Girodet (Montargis, inv. no. 8217) in 1982 as an original. The provenance of this canvas was confused with that of our panel, which was in the artist’s posthumous sale, where it was acquired by his friend Pannetier (1772-1859). Pannetier, with the help of other friends of the painter, subsequently took it upon himself to distribute Girodet's sketches in the form of prints and lithographs, in order to continue to promote the artist's rich inventiveness.

The present painting will be included in future editions of the artist's catalogue raisonné compiled by Sidonie Lemeux-Fraitot.
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