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64 - Giuseppe CERACCHI (1751-1801) General Jean-Baptiste Bernadot…
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Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
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Description
Giuseppe CERACCHI (1751-1801) General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (1763-1844) Model created around 1800 Bust in plaster with an imitation bronze patina (Worn patina, accidents and small missing parts). Height Height : 80 cm This bust of General Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, future King of Sweden and Norway, was executed by Giuseppe Ceracchi, an Italian artist with a European career and a sulphurous public life, in the neoclassical vein at the turn of the 19th century. Born in Rome into a family of goldsmiths, Giuseppe Ceracchi won First Prize in sculpture at the distinguished Accademia di San Luca in 1771 before embarking on a cosmopolitan career that took him between Italy, London, the United Provinces, Vienna, Paris and even the United States of America. After his various stays in Europe and two trips to the United States, he became a recognised and appreciated portraitist, having painted the most famous figures of revolutionary Europe and the New World. Exiled from Rome after the Jacobin Republic, the artist returned to Paris and, between 1799 and 1800, executed a new series of portraits of French generals and political figures, including Bernadotte. The sculptor, who was implicated in an attempt on the First Consul's life, was arrested and guillotined in 1801. While in prison, Ceracchi wrote several more letters to Bernadotte, then Councillor of State, to obtain payment of the sum owed for the execution of his bust, one of the last of his career. Born in Pau in 1763, Bernadotte rose from the rank of non-commissioned officer to that of major general in 1794, after the Flanders and Rhine campaigns. He then served in Italy before being appointed ambassador to Vienna and Minister of War in 1799. When his portrait was painted around 1799/1800, he was a leading political figure. As a republican military leader and general, he was a sufficiently influential political figure to arouse Ceracchi's interest. Ceracchi was fascinated by the French Revolution from the outset, and excelled in heroic iconography. Our bust belongs fully to this aesthetic of ancient exaltation: the idealised naked torso, the drape thrown over the shoulder, the "Titus"-style hairstyle, the lively gaze and energetic jaws. All these anatomical details seek to elevate our man-of-war to the dignity of a Roman hero. Several versions of this portrait of Bernadotte by Ceracchi are known today, with variations. Our work is a patinated plaster version of the original terracotta in Waldemarsudde Castle in Sweden. A similar version, also in patinated plaster, went on sale in 2003. Two variants of the bust of the future king of Sweden and Norway are also known: one in the guise of a Roman emperor is on display at the Bernadotte Museum in Pau, while the other with its "hermes" cut-out is said to have been preserved at the Château de Grosbois. Our rare portrait of Bernadotte, which has remained in the descendants of Viscount Le Jeans until now, bears witness to the meeting of two extraordinary personalities in revolutionary Europe: that of a cosmopolitan sculptor whose political commitment and excesses cost him his life, and that of a republican general destined for an exceptional dynastic destiny. Provenance : - Family of Viscount Le Jeans (1784-1840), son of Senator Lazare Le Jeans (or Lejeans) and Catherine Clary; affiliated to the model through the marriage of Bernadotte and Désiré Clary in 1798 and to the Bonaparte family, then by descent Related works: - Giuseppe Ceracchi, Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, circa 1800, terracotta bust, Prinz Eugen, Waldemarsudde Castle, Sweden, inv.no.W 113; - Giuseppe Ceracchi , Bust of Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (1763-1844) , bust in plaster patinated in imitation of bronze, H.80 cm, Sotheby's sale 02/12/2003, lot 29 ; - Giuseppe Ceracchi, Buste de Bernadotte en empereur romain, patinated plaster, H. 74 ; L. 51 ; Pau, Musée Bernadotte, n°inv.53.3.15. Related literature: -Gérard Hubert, Les Sculpteurs italiens en France sous la Révolution, l'Empire et la Restauration,1790-1830, Paris, Editions E. de Boccard, 1964, pp. 32-36 ; -Patrizia Masini, Giuseppe Ceracchi/: scultore giacobino, 1751-1801, cat. exp. Rome, Palazzo dei Conservatori, 20 September-12 November 1989, Rome, Artemide edizioni, 1989, pp. 70-71; -Aline Magnien, "Le Sculpteur Jacobin Ceracchi (1751-1801). Papiers Inédits. Son OEuvre de Portraitiste: les Bustes", in Gazette des Beaux Arts, April 2002, vol. 139, pp. 343-366. Expert : Cabinet LACROIX-JEANNEST Part I : Thursday 18 June 2026 - Chapter 3 : From a castle in Burgundy, memories of the Viscounts Le Jeans
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About the sale COLLECTIONS & CLASSIC WORKS - PART I
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Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures modified on 06/03/2026 at 6:07 PM
Lot description modified on 06/05/2026 at 2:22 PM
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