Virginie Pitchal Oil On Canvas And Oil On Panel

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Jacques HELLART Reims, June 10, 1664 - Paris, June 17, 1719 Portrait of Jeanne-Françoise Salomon de la Lande and her daughter Françoise-Mélanie Oil on original canvas 130 x 97.5 cm Signed and dated, halfway up, left: "I. [HEL]LART PINXIT. AD VIVUM ANNO. 1710 ». Provenance: Greffulhe Countess Collection. Jacques Hellart was the son of the remois painter Jean Hellart (1618-1685) with whom he is very often confused in reference works. The father of our artist is said to have known Charles Le Brun in Rome in 1642, and would have developed at his contact the taste of academic art which enabled him to obtain, in 1670, the title of painter of the city of Reims. Eager to create a provincial academy under the protection of Louis XIV's first painter, Jean Hellart was received in the Royal Academy on 30 March 1677, on the condition that he establish an academy in Reims, which he did with Isaac de Lacroix, received on the same day. A friend of François Maucroix, Hellart would have known Jean de La Fontaine who, according to Louis Paris (Maucroix, Various Works, t. I, 1854, p. CXIII-CXIV), would have made him the hero of his famous tale Les Rémois. Many religious paintings in Champagne are now attributed to Jean Hellart, with more or less happiness. Let us remember for our purpose that he had an important activity as a portraitist, as evidenced by some engravings by Jean Colin (himself from Reims): André Coquebert, lord of the Grand Montfort; Michel Larcher, Marquess of Olisy; Pierre Routier; Jacques Thuret. This part of his activity seems to have guided his son's choice to paint the portrait. Born in Reims on June 10, 1664, Jacques Hellart learned the basics of art from his father, who also trained his daughter Marie (1656-1740) and another of his sons, Claude (1660-1719). After a probable trip to Rome, James returned to Reims where he executed, in 1688, two paintings that are now lost. In Paris in 1691, our artist married Charlotte Juste d'Egmont, daughter of the famous portraitist (to whom we owe a part of the decoration of the Château de Balleroy or the portraits of the Grand Condé and Turenne, both in Versailles). Jacques quickly became "painter of the king" and then "painter of the Duke of Burgundy", grandson of Louis XIV and father of Louis XV. As such, he made a Portrait of the Duke of Burgundy in armour, now known by a beautiful engraving by Gérard Edelinck. The accounts of the King's Buildings tell us that in 1711 he painted a copy of Le Brun's Silence (original in the Louvre) and, in 1712, a copy of the famous Portrait of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud (original at Versailles), a copy destined for the apartment of the Duchess of Ventadour in Versailles. Hellart had two sons who became painters: Louis-Charles (born 1696) and Louis (born in 1699 and died before 5 April 1757). He died in Paris on 17 June 1719. The Portrait of Jeanne-Françoise Salomon de la Lande and her daughter Françoise-Mélanie that we present was returned to Jacques Hellart thanks to the signature he bears, and this painting is the only work known to the painter today. Combining the somewhat hieratic tradition of a Francis of Troy (the figure of the mother) with the more dynamic forms of the younger generation represented by the Grimou, Raoux, Santerre or Pesne (the figure of the girl), this portrait is most characteristic of the early eighteenth century. The richness of the impastos, the freshness of the color, the ease of execution? We think of course the beautiful costume of the girl? and the lightness of tone reveal a brilliant artist whose portraits are now unknown. The reappearance of this major work should nevertheless allow for further discoveries soon enough and thus restore Jacques Hellart's rightful place in the history of portraiture during the reign of Louis XIV. The models: a long inscription worn in October 1760 on the back of the canvas? and all over its surface? fortunately retained the identity of the models depicted on the painting. Jeanne-Françoise de Castéja, wife of M. de Salomon de la Lande, is pictured with her daughter Françoise-Mélanie, a future Marquess of Arcy. Madame de la Lande, as the memorialists of the time call it, was appointed by Louis XIV as sub-governing of the children of France on 25 March 1704, to assist the Marshal of the Mothe and the Duchess of Ventadour, her daughter: "The king chose Madame de la Lande as sub-governing, who was fed at Saint-Cyr and for whom Madame de Maintenon has always had much friendship" (Journal of the Marquis de Dangeau, Paris, t. IX, 1857, p. 469). The Marquis of Sourches also echoed the event: "After dinner, it was known that the Marshal of the Mothe had been appointed governess of the children of the Duke of Burgundy, with the Duchess of Ventadour, her daughter, survived, the widow of the Land as sub-governing, and the widow of Hoquincant as the first maid" (Memoirs of the Marquis of Sourches, Paris, t. VIII, 1888, p. 323). And the Marquis states in note, about the model of our painting: "She was the daughter of a former infantry officer named Castelja, who was Basque, and having been raised in Saint-Cyr, she was the first that the Marquise of Maintenon had drawn for her; then she married him to the Lande, a gentleman who was a Huguenot, when he was with the Duke of the Force, and who, having converted, had entered the service of the Duke of Maine, whose crew he commanded for the deer; he died of a fall in the hunt." Madame de la Lande was closely associated with the life of the court. Thus, on 15 April 1705, she was one of those who accompanied, from Versailles to Saint-Denis, the body of the young Duke of Brittany, great grandson of the king and king himself if he had lived: "It was The Duke, as prince of blood, who would lead the body of Monsignor the Duke of Brittany to Saint-Denis. There will be with him, in the carriage, the cardinal of Coislin as great chaplain, the Duke of Tresmes as duke, Madame de Ventadour as governess, Madame de Lalande, sub-governing, and the parish priest of Versailles (...), in a carriage of the king who will not be draped; the prince's coffin in the middle, and the cardinal of Coislin carrying his heart in his hand" (Journal of the Marquis de Dangeau, Paris, t. X, 1857, p. 302). On 8 March 1714 Louis XIV gave "Madame de Caylus the accommodation which Madame de Miossens in Luxembourg had and that which Madame de Caylus had, to Madame de la Lande, deputy governor of Monsignor le Dauphin" (id., t. XV, 1858, p. 96). After the successive deaths of the first and second Duke of Brittany (in 1705 and 1712 respectively), the dolphin entrusted to the good care of the sub-governing was then the future Louis XV, born in 1710. But the king was no less attentive to the fate of the other model of our painting: "Mademoiselle de la Lande, the daughter of one of the two sub-governors of Monsignor Le Dauphin, married the Marquis d'Arcy, and in favour of marriage the king gave the damsel 50,000 francs on the townhouse worth 2,000 pounds of rent, and he gave a certificate of camp matter to the one who married her" (6 March 1715; id., p. 376). Dangeau clarifies, a few days later, "that there were some difficulties at the marriage of Mademoiselle de la Lande on the good of the husband who was not thought to be sufficiently insured, but the difficulties are over and the of course is; thus the wedding will take place this week at Madame de Ventadour" (March 31, 1715; id., p. 393). The marriage took place on 5 April 1715: "Mademoiselle de la Lande was engaged in the chapel at six o'clock in the evening; Monsignor the Dolphin wanted to be there. She was married after midnight, and the wedding was at Madame de Ventadour's house" (id., p. 395). After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the young Louis XV continued to show his attachment to Madame de la Lande and his daughter: "The king and lady the Duchess of Berry held madame de Mouchy's daughter on the fonts, and then S. M. and the Duchess of Maine held Madame d'Arcy's son on the fonts. Madame d'Arcy is the daughter of Madame de la Lande, the king's sub-governing body. S. M. gave beautiful earrings to Madame Mouchy and sent a beautiful ring to Madame d'Arcy" (id., t. XVII, 1859, 33). We especially thank Mr. Dominique Breême, Professor at the University of Charles-de-Gaulle - Lille III, for authenticated the artist and for the help he was willing to give to the writing of this notice.

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• Country : FRANCE
• Designer : Jacques HELLART