Lemonnier, Anicet Charles Gabriel

Description:

Rouen 1743 - Paris 1824
139 x 204
King Francis I of France presenting 1518 Raphael’s painting "The Holy Family" in the Galerie de Diane at the Palace of Fontainebleau. Oil/canvas, relined, signed and dated 1814 bottom left.
The painting presented here was commissioned by Empress Josephine for the Château de Malmaison; following her death, it passed into the possession of her son, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg. Passed down through the Leuchtenberg family by inheritance; Estate Sale of Duke Georg von Leuchtenberg, Seeon Castle, held by Hugo Helbing, Munich, 28-29 June 1934, lot 421; B. Koestler Art Gallery, Maximilianstr. 28, Munich, 1963, where acquired by the family of the present owner. Comes with an Art Loss Certificate. The Musée National des Châteaux de Malmaison has submitted a loan request for the painting, which is to be displayed in the exhibition ‘Joséphine face à l’histoire’ in spring 2027.
The painting has been engraved as an etching by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet (1788-1871) and published in "Le siècle de François 1er, époque 1518" and "Le Siècle de Louis XIV, époque 1683", notices published in Paris 1822 and printed by Bailleuil. There are thirty-three people present in the gallery; according to a historical source, they are: on the right-hand side of the painting, the royal household of the queens: Louise de Savoie, Queen Mother; the Duchess of Angoulême, regent during the king’s captivity; Claude de France, the king’s wife; and Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, the monarch’s sister. They are followed by four court ladies: Diane, court lady to Claude de France; Anne Boleyn, future Queen of England; Madame du Heilly, Duchess of Étampes, mistress of François I; and finally Françoise de Foix, Countess of Châteaubriand, former mistress of the King. Behind the sovereign stands Chabot, who had educated him, the Connétable of Bourbon, and between them Thomas More and Clément Marot. Beside them are standing Chancellor Duprat, Gaspard de Coligny, the admiral’s father, the architect Serlio, and the painter Jean Cousin. The ensemble is then completed by Bayard, Bonnivet, Anne de Montmorency, Budé, Primaticcio, Le Rosso, Cardinal Bembo, secretary to Pope Leo X, Sadolet, professor of law, Jean Goujon and Rabelais. Lemonnier added two guards and two pages to this composition. The author of the source added that ‘one does not know whether to admire the composition or the execution more’. He concluded that one is enchanted by the ‘pure and luminous play of colours’ and that the ‘faces appear full of life and truth’. (Cf. also Christine Le Bozec, Lemonnier, Un Peintre en Révolution, Rouen 2000, pp. 120-121).
The painting is more than a mere historical depiction - it is a tribute to the Italian Renaissance and its influence on French culture. Francis I was a great patron of the arts and brought artists such as Leonardo da Vinci to the French court. Seen in this light, the scene appears as a symbolic transfer of artistic excellence from Italy to France. At the same time, Lemonnier reflects the spirit of Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment, in which art is understood as a vehicle for knowledge, power and civilisation.