LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674) - photo 1
LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674) - photo 2
LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674) - photo 3

LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674)

Lot 191
18.05.2022 14:30UTC +01:00
Classic
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€ 226 800
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationFrance, Paris
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ID 761335
Lot 191 | LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674)
Estimate value
€ 180 000 – 250 000
LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE LE VIEUX (PARIS 1609-1674)Danaé et la pluie d'orhuile sur toile109 x 210 cm (43 x 82 1⁄2 in.) Provenance Collection particulière, Belgique. Literature G. Kazerouni, B. Brejon de Lavergnée, J. Delaplanche, L'idée et la ligne. Dessins français du musée de Grenoble XVIe-XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 2011, p. 52 et p. 54, sous la note 7 (comme 'Louis de Boullogne le Vieux'). Exhibited Francfort, Museum fu¨r Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, André Charles Boulle, 1642-1732. Un nouveau style pour l'Europe, 30 octobre 2009-31 janvier 2010, n°109 (comme 'Louis de Boullogne l'Aîné'). Special notice ƒ: In addition to the regular Buyer’s premium, a commission of 5.5%inclusive of VAT of the hammer price will be charged to the buyer.It will be refunded to the Buyer upon proof of export of the lotoutside the European Union within the legal time limit. (Please refer to section VAT refunds) This item will be transferred to an offsite warehouse after the sale. Please refer to department for information about storage charges and collectiondetails. Post lot text LOUIS DE BOULLOGNE THE ELDER, DANAË RECEIVING THE GOLDEN RAIN, OIL ON CANVASThis monumental and judiciously organized composition is striking in its scope and theatricality. A small putto, in the top left, reveals the scene to us by graciously lifting a heavy and silken red drape; Danaë, locked in a bronze tower by her father Acrisios, king of Argos, is reclining on her bed, leaning on a monumental cushion. Awoken from her slumber by a mysterious golden rain, Danë, like her servant, draws her gaze upwards at this strange divine manifestation, through which the king of Olympus, Zeus, will give her a son, Perseus. This is one of the most imposing mythological scene by the French painter Louis de Boullogne the elder (1609-1674), patriarch of the renowned family of painters of the same name, which included Bon (1649-1717), Louis (1654-1733), Geneviève (1645-1708) and Madeleine (1646-1710). After successive attributions to Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1631-1681) by Charles Sterling (1901-1991) – whose oeuvre was not well known at the time – our painting was reattributed to Boullogne the elder in 1994 (G. Kazerouni, B. Brejon de Lavergnée, J. Delaplanche, op. cit., p. 54, sous la note 7), an attribution which was reiterated during its exhibition at the Museum Für Angewandte Kunst of Frankfurt in 2004. Noteworthy in our painting is the unique representation of the draperies, particularly the one covering Danaë’s body, as well as the heavy curtain and the folds of the bolster pillow. The latter is reminiscent of Eustache Le Sueur’s (1617-1655) composition, Sleeping Venus surprised by Cupid (San Francisco, Californian palace of the Légion d’honneur) (A. Brejon de Lavergnée, André Charles Boulle, 1642-1732. Un nouveau style pour l’Europe, [exh. cat.], Frankfurt, Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, 2009-2010, p. 414). One cannot discuss draperies without mentioning Boullogne the elder himself who said, during a series of conferences at the Royal Academy on Titian’s (around 1488-1490-1576) Madonna of the rabbit, that whilst the sculptor fears that heavy draperies should obscure the figure, the painter should aim to create such draperies, so as to create a union between the colours and the figures, thus giving volume to these figures and filling the space between them (‘Le sculpteur craint que des draperies amples n’embarrassent ses figures et n’en cachent les proportions par de grosses masses de pierre ? Au contraire, le peintre affecte ordinairement que les plis de ses draperies soient larges, pour servir à l’union des couleurs et des groupes, pour donner plus ou moins de reliefs à ses figures, pour remplir des espaces vides et pour plusieurs autres utilités […]’) (G. Guillet de Saint-Georges, Mémoires inédits sur la vie et les ouvrages des membres de l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, Paris, 1854, I, pp. 195-204). The putti, which pleasantly animate the scene at the end of Danaë’s bed in the bottom right of our painting, can also be found in another composition by the painter, Samson and Dalila, brought to market by Christie’s in Paris on the 27th November 2002, lot 34. Whilst one of the putti is playing with a golden chain, the other is gesturing him, as well as the viewer, to be silent. Why? So as to not bother the beautiful Danaë, stretched out across the bed in her inaccessible bronze tower, who has suddenly been awakened. Or is it to attract the attention to another one of Zeus’ licentious subterfuges? Another question remains, to what ends was our picture painted? Who commissioned it? In our painter’s well documented biography by Guillet de Saint-Georges (1624-1705), first historiographer of the Royal Academy of painting and sculpture, a remark by the author suggests that, according to Brejon de Lavergnée (A. Brejon de Lavergnée, op. cit., pp. 414-415), our painting may have decorated the study of a distinguished amateur, as the biography cites by name a certain number of distinguished gentlemen, such as M. le Marquis de Liancourt, M. le Marquis de Sourdis, and M. le Marquis de Mortemart amongst others, who regularly called upon, and patronized, the painter (‘Pendant ce travail [l’activité de copiste] un grand nombre de personnalités distinguées venaient visiter familièrement M. Boulogne entre autres M. le marquis de Liancourt, M. le marquis de Sourdis, M. le marquis de Mortemart, Monsieur l’évêque de Tarbes et M. de la Vrillière. Il n’y eut pas l’un d’eux qui ne le favorisât de son amitié et qui ne lui fît faire des tableaux de Cabinet qu’on regarde tous avec estime’)(G. Guillet de Saint-Georges, op. cit., pp. 195-204). Due to our painting’s references to Blanchard (1600-1638) and Le Sueur, Brejon de Lavergnée postulates that our painting can be dated amongst the painter’s early works.
Applied technique:Oil, Painted
Medium:Canvas, Textile
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Mythological painting
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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