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painting of a painting of a family in a bedroom with a beda picture of a wooden frame with a picture on ita book with a picture of a horse drawn carriage on it
Rossini

365 - Eugène-Ernest HILLEMACHER (1818–1887)
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Estimate €5,000 - €8,000
Sale commission
Description
Eugène-Ernest HILLEMACHER (1818–1887) Astolphe and Joconde Question Fiammetta Oil on canvas, re-stretched 73.5 x 92.2 cm Provenance 1879 Salon, no. 1560 Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher exhibited this painting, depicting Astolphe and Joconde questioning Fiammetta, at the 1879 Salon at the age of 60. Having received numerous medals throughout his career and been awarded the Legion of Honour, he was exempt from the admissions jury and presented this painting ‘out of competition’. A pupil of Léon Cogniet, he was by then a seasoned painter, with a tried-and-tested and sophisticated technique, who perfectly embodied the official art style. The works that can be seen today in several museums, such as, for example, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Besançon (The Satyr and the Passer-by, inv. 2022.3.195) or the Grenoble Museum (Antoine Brought Back to Cleopatra, Dying, inv. MG 502), bear witness to his talent and success. This painting depicts a scene recounted in Canto XXVIII of Ariosto’s *Orlando Furioso*. Astolphe, King of the Lombards, and his friend Joconde, both betrayed by their wives, seek revenge and set out to seduce women across the world, convinced that none are faithful. Later, weary of their endless conquests, they agree to share a single woman, Fiammetta, so that they may live in peace. However, one night Fiammetta slips her lover under the covers between the two sleeping men. The two men wake up in turn, but each imagines that it is his friend. As they reproach one another the following morning, they realise what has happened and confront Fiammetta. It is this scene that Eugène-Ernest Hillemacher chose to depict in this painting. Fiammetta, kneeling, confused and terrified, confesses, whilst Astolphe and Joconde laugh at the incident, impressed by the young woman’s audacity. Subsequently, the two men provide her with a dowry so that she may marry her lover, and return home to their respective wives with resignation and forbearance. Towards the end of his career, Hillemacher devoted himself almost exclusively to literary or romantic genre scenes. This painting, depicting a light-hearted fable on the futility of control, the renunciation of jealousy, detachment and wisdom through laughter, is a perfect archetype of this body of work, which appealed to cultured connoisseurs both then and now.
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About the sale CLASSICAL ART, Asian collection, antique paintings & works of art
Auction location
Auction time 11/04/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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