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ALEXANDRE LANDRE - BEAUNE
224
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Jean-Louis DUCIS (1775–1847), studio of
See original version (French)
224
-
Jean-Louis DUCIS (1775–1847), studio of
See original version (French)
Estimate €600 - €800
Voluntary lot
Description
Jean-Louis DUCIS (1775–1847), studio of
Bianca Cappello
Oil on canvas.
H 45.5 cm W 37 cm
Our painting is based on the lost composition of a slightly larger version of Jean-Louis Ducis’s painting exhibited at the 1824 Salon. A pupil of David, he was also the nephew of the playwright Jean François Ducis and married the sister of the famous actor François Joseph Talma.
His painting was resolutely focused on portraiture and troubadour scenes, which were particularly popular at the time, as evidenced by Empress Joséphine’s purchases from the painter Fleury Richard, another pupil of David. Painted for the 1824 Salon, the painting is described in the catalogue as follows: “This Venetian noblewoman, upon leaving her father’s house to attend a nocturnal rendezvous, had taken care to leave a side door ajar, through which she might enter without being seen. A neighbour, passing by this door, hastened to close it. Young Bianca returns to her father’s house, accompanied by her lover, who brings her back in a boat; but what grief and astonishment she feels upon finding that fateful door—through which she had hoped to conceal her transgression—now closed. Her young lover takes advantage of this situation to persuade her to flee. That closed door has sealed her fate for ever.”
Our painting, probably produced in the artist’s studio, is the known image of this Salon painting, which once formed a pair with *Bianca Cappello and her lover fleeing towards Florence across the Apennines*, now held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon.
Expert: Artéon consultancy – Expert: Quentin BONNEFOY – ARTÉON consultancy
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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