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Jean-August-Dominique
Ingres is a French neo-classical painter, and one of the major portrait
painters of the 19th century. He received his first lessons in art and
music from his father, Joseph Ingres (1755-1814), miniature-artist and
sculptor. In 1791, he entered the Royal Academy of Arts in Toulouse,
where
his teachers were J. Vigan and G. Roques. Simultaneously he took violin
lessons, and played in the local orchestra. After 1797, Ingres was in
Paris,
in the studio of David. He
resolutely
studied principles of composition and human anatomy. In 1801, he got a
Roman prize for his picture Ambassadors of Agamemnon and
could go to Italy to continue his education. Because of financial
problems
he stayed in Paris till 1806; during the period he executed a number of
bright and expressive portraits; Portrait
of Napoléon on the Imperial Throne, Self-Portrait,
Portrait
of Mademoiselle Rivière. The model on every painting
is portrayed on a large scale, and takes all the space of the canvas.
Ingres
was reproached for imitation of Gothic masters and
Jan
van Eyck.
From 1806 till 1824, the painter lived in Italy, first in Rome
(1806-1820),
then for four years in Florence; he worked and studied the art of
Renaissance;
Raphael
was his idol. His fame as a portraitist grew; his commissions
increased.
In 1807-24, he painted a lot of portraits: his masterpiece - beautiful
and mysterious Mme Duvauçay,
a mistress of d’Alquier, the French ambassador in Saint-Siège; Portrait
of Joseph-Antoine Moltedo, Portrait
of Charles-Joseph-Laurent Cordier, Portrait
of Count Nikolay Gouriev, etc.
In 1813, Ingres married Mlle Madeleine Chapelle (died in 1849), a
modest
milliner from Guéret, see her portrait Madame
Ingres. In 1813-14, in Rome he painted his popular La
Grande Odalisque. The picture was commissioned by the Queen
of Naples, Napoleon’s sister, but never delivered, since the Emperor’s
fall intervened. Ingres remained in Rome but sent the picture to the
Paris
Salon in 1819.
In 1824, Ingres returned to Paris and showed Vow of Louis XIII
(Montauban, Cathedral) in the Salon. This canvas brought him official
recognition
and fame: he was elected in the Academy, and awarded the Order of
Honor.
His very long stay in Italy and fondness of the Renaissance made him
miss
out on the formation of Romantic painting in France. On his return he
could
not understand Romanticism and became its violent opponent. From now on
Ingres was looked upon as a foothold and the hope of classicism. In
1835,
he returned to Italy as Director of the French Academy of Arts in Rome
(1835-1841). At the end of his directorship, he came back to France. In
Paris a great welcoming parade was held in his honor. The king himself
invited Ingres to the Versailles.
Though the big canvases Apotheosis of
Homer
(1827), Martyrdom of St. Symphorien
(1834) and others are grandiose, and make impression with their sizes
and
labor of the painter, they can’t be considered the achievements of the
artist, they are cold and rational. Working on such grand compositions
with mythological and religious subjects, the master was irritated when
he had to distract for portraits, but exactly the portraits made his
name.
The main force of Ingres was in his contact with a model, his sitters
always
inspired the master. The outstanding work is the Portrait
of Louis-Francois Bertin.
But the
summit of Ingres’ achievement was his women portraits. The artist
perfectly
expressed the cult of the ideal woman, as the 19th century saw her:
woman
as an item of art, who commanded the art of communication, art of
movements,
art of being dressed in accordance with place, time and her natural
data.
Though not all Ingres’ models were beauties, he could find in each one
special harmony, attributed only to her: Portrait
of Countess D'Haussonville, Portrait
of Baroness James de Rothschild, Portrait
of Madame Gonse, Portrait of
Madame Moitessier Sitting. The secret of the charm of
Ingres’
portraits is in his love to every model.
He was in love with women all his life. In 1852, he married Delphine
Ramel,
aged 20, at his own age 61. He remained like this till the end – one
cold
winter day he accompanied a young beautiful modle to a carriage, as a
gallant
man he stayed bareheaded. He caught a cold, which developed into
pneumonia,
he did not recover – he was 87 years old.
Notes
Frédéric Dismarais, the
sitter is not identified, but most probably, he was the person, whom
Ingres
addressed in his diary as “le père Desmarets”, the painter, the
first teacher of Bartoloni.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of
Frédéric Desmarais.
Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) pupil of
David and friend of Ingres; the most important representative of the
neo-classical
sculpture in Italy. It’s he who introduced Ingres to Toscanian art on
the
15th and 16th centuries.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Lorenzo Bartolini.
Portrait of the Sculptor Lorenzo
Bartolini.
Philibert Rivière was the
Councilor
of the State. Madame Rivière, his wife. Mademoiselle Caroline
Rivière,
their daughter, died at the age of fifteen, the year this portrait was
painted. Exposed on Salon 1806 three portraits of the Rivières
did
not attract much attention.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Mademoiselle
Rivière. Portrait of
Madame Rivière. Portrait
of Monsieur Rivière.
Jean-Baptiste Desdéban
(1781-1833)
architect, lived with Ingres in villa Medicis as a pensioner in
1806-1809;
was a friend of Ingres and sculptor P. Lemoyne.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Jean-Baptiste
Desdéban.
Francois-Marius Granet
(1775-1849),
landscape painter, pupil of David, friend of Ingres. The portrait was
painted
in Rome.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Francois-Marius
Granet.
Ossian is the name commonly given to
Oisin,
a legendary Gaelic warrior and bard, author of ancient epic poems and
ballads.
Napoleon put in his chamber the Songs of Ossian.
See: François-Pascal-Simon Gérard.
Ossian
on the Bank of the Lora, Invoking the Gods to the Strains of a Harp.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. The
Songs of Ossian. The Songs
of Ossian.
Paolo and Francesca. Francesca,
daughter
of Giovanni da Polenta, count of Ravenna, was given in marriage to
Giovanni
Malatesta of Rimini in return for his military services. She fell in
love
with Paolo, her husband’s brother. When their relations were
discovered,
the two lovers were put to death in 1289. The story of Paolo and
Francesca
was the subject for music, painting, literature compositions throughout
centuries. It was used, among others, by Dante,
Hunt,
Tchaikovsky, Ingres.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Paolo and Francesca.
Raphael and Fornarina. Fornarina is
a supposed lover and muse of Raphael.
On Ingres’ painting on the right on easel stands the painting of
Fornarina
by Raphael.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Raphael and Fornarina.
Sistine
Chapel: on the canvas are Pope Pie VII with his Cardinals and
frescos
by Boticelli and
Penturicchio
in the background.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. The Sistine Chapel.
Joseph-Antoine Moltedo
(1751-1829),
Corsican by origin, director of postal service in Rome, and clerical
agent
of France.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Joseph-Antoine
Moltedo.
Charles-Joseph-Laurent
Cordier
(1777-1870) high French official in Rome.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of
Charles-Joseph-Laurent Cordier.
Jacques Marquet, Baron de
Montbreton
de Norvins (1769-1854). High state official, in 1810-1814 was the
chief
of the Roman police.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Jacques Marquet,
Baron de Montbreton de Norvins.
Madame de Senonnes, Marie Marcoz
(1783-1828) from a bourgeois family of Leon, divorced her first husband
de J. Talansier in 1809, to become a mistress of Viscount Senonnes,
whom
she eventually married in 1815.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. Portrait of Madame de
Senonnes.
Count Guriev, Nikolay
Dmitriyevich
(1792-1849), the second son of the minister of finance, Dmitry
Alexandrovich
Guriev, and Praskoviya Nikolayevna, née Saltykova. He started
his
career as a military officer, participated in wars against Napoleon,
had
military awards. In 1816 he retired in the rank of colonel. In 1821 he
started the diplomatic career, was the Russian envoy in The Hague,
Rome,
Naples; then he was the state secretary in the ministry for foreign
affairs,
since 1838 was privy counselor. Count Guriev was married, since 1819,
to
Marina Dmitriyevna, née Naryshkina. They had 3 children: son
Alexander;
daughter Yelena, married to prince N. N. Gagarin, and Olga, married to
prince V. B. Chetvertinsky. Died on the 21st of February 1849.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Count Nikolay Gouriev.
Madame Leblanc,
Françoise
Poncelle (1788-1839) married Monsieur Jacques-Louis Leblanc
(1774-1846)
in Florence in 1811. He was the secretary of cabinet of Grand Duchess
of
Tuscany Elisa Bacciochi, sister of Napoleon. They were friends of
Ingres
since 1821. In 1823 Ingres also painted their daughter Isaure Leblanc
(1818-1895);
whereabouts of the portrait are unknown.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Leblanc. Portrait of Monsieur Leblanc.
Madame Marcotte de Saint-Marie,
née Salvaing de Boissieu, she was the sister-in-law of Marcotte
D’Argenteil, the devoted friend of Ingres.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Marcotte de Sainte-Marie.
Louis-François Bertin
(1766-1841)
founder and director of the Journal des Débats. Bertin
stood
for the liberal bourgeoisie and establishment; this perhaps aided the
portrait’s
success in the 1833 Salon.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin.
Cherubini,
Maria
Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore (1760-1842) an Italian composer, born
in Florence. He studied at Bologna and Milan and wrote a succession of
operas, at first in Neapolitan, later, after moving to Paris, in French
style. In 1822 he became director of conservatory of Paris. Ingres
liked
his music.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Luigi Cherubini and the Muse of Lyric Poetry.
Ferdinand-Philippe,
Duke
of Orleans (1810-1842). Died in 1842 in a driving accident not long
after the portrait was finished.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Ferdinand-Philippe, Duke of Orleans.
The Countess D'Haussonville,
née
Louise de Broglie (1818-1882), married in 1836 viscount D'Haussonville,
deputy of parliament, senator, historian and member of the French
Academy
(Académie Française); she was sister-in-law to the
princess
de Broglie, who was also painted by Ingres.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Countess D'Haussonville.
The Baroness James de
Rothschild,
née Betty de Rothschild (1805-1886).
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Baroness James de Rothschild.
Madame Moitessier,
née Inès de Foucauld, was the daughter of Marcotte’s
collegue.
Marcotte D’Argenteil, a close friend of Ingres, asked Ingres to paint
this
model, because she wanted this very much.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Moitessier Standing. Portrait of Madame Moitessier Sitting.
Madame Gonse,
née
Caroline Maille (1815-1901) was acquainted with Ingres since 1835, when
she was his pupil in Rome. In 1835 she married J.-H. Gonse, councilor
of
the Rouen court.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Gonse.
Princess de Broglie,
née
de Galard (1825-1860), wife of the prince, later duke de Broglie,
member
of the Académie Française; she was sister-in-law of the
countess
D'Haussonville.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Princess De Broglie.
Self-Portrait in Uffizi. The
director
of the Uffizi requested a self-portrait from Ingres in 1839, when the
artist
was the President of the Académie Française in Rome.
Though
Ingres willingly agreed, he executed the portrait and sent it only in
1858.
It won him the Order of St. Joseph, bestowed by the grand duke, which
he
is shown wearing in the Anwerp self-portrait of seven years later. In
the
Uffizi self-portrait he is depicted with the order of Legion of Honor,
which he received in 1855.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Self-Portrait.
Apotheosis of Homer is a big
canvas
with 46 figures of poets, musicians, artists, philosophers, statesmen,
among them Horace, Pisistratus, Lycurgus, Virgil, Raphael, Sappho,
Alcibiades,
Apelles, Euripides, Menander, Demosthenes, Sophocles, Exchyle,
Herodotus,
Orpheus, Pindar, Hesiod, Plato, Socrates, Pericles, Phidias,
Michelangelo,
Aristotle, Aristarchus, Alexander the Great, Dante, Odysseus, Aesop,
Shakespeare,
La Fontaine, Mozart, etc.
Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)
French dramatist, born in Rouen. In 1629 he moved to Paris, where his
comedy
Mélite.
already performed at Rouen, proved highly successful. He wrote 33 plays
in every dramatic genre of his time, but is best known as the creator
of
French classical tragedy. the best known are Médee
(1635),
Le
Cid (1637), Horace (1640), Cinna (1641) and others.
Molière, stage name of Jean
Baptiste
Poquelin (1622-1673), French comic playwright and actor. He is
considered
to be the creator of French classical comedy; wrote more than 30
comedies,
the best known are Le Tartuffe (1664), Don Juan (1665),
Le
Misanthrope (1666) and others.
Boileau, Nicolas (1636-1711) French poet and critic. His first
publications (1660-1666) were satires. In 1677 the king appointed him,
along with Racine, official royal historian. His works include several
critical dissertations, especially L’Art poétique
(1674),
a collection of epigrams, and a series of letters (many to Racine). His
influence as a critic was profound.
Racine, Jean (1639-1699), French tragic dramatist and poet,
official royal historian. His tragedies derived from classical Greek
and
Roman literature and history (Andromaque, Iphigénie,
Phèdre,
Britannicus, etc.), Bible (Esther), and from Turkish history
(Bajazet). In France Racine is regarded as greatest of all
tragic
playwrights.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres. The Apotheosis of Homer.
Madame Cavé, neé
Marie-Elisabeth
Blavot, friend of Delacroix
and Ingres, she was a student of Clément Boulanger, and later
married
him. Widowed in 1842, she married in 1844 Edmond Cavé
(1794-1852),
director of the department of Beaux-Arts at the Ministry for Internal
Affairs
until 1839.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Madame Cavé.