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FRENCH school of the late eighteenth century
Jean-Baptiste B…
See original version (French)
188
-
FRENCH school of the late eighteenth century
Jean-Baptiste B…
See original version (French)
Estimate €7,000 - €9,000
Voluntary lot
Description
FRENCH school of the late eighteenth century
Jean-Baptiste BERTHIER, (1721-1804)
Oil on canvas with oval view depicting "Jean-Baptiste Berthier, in bust form, in the uniform of Commander-in-Chief, wearing the Order of Saint-Louis", with inscription added at top left: "J.B. Berthier 1721-1804 Commander-in-Chief of the Engineers of the King's Camps and Armies, Knight of Saint-Louis".
63 x 53 cm.
(Restorations, repaints, reupholstered).
On the back, partially faded ink inscription on the frame: "Le ... Berthier Ingénieur du Roy chevalier... 17.9".
Provenance: Berthier family.
Jean-Baptiste Berthier (1721-1804)
An illustrious servant of the monarchy at Versailles
This elegant effigy depicts a bust of Jean-Baptiste Berthier wearing the Cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis, a distinction awarded to officers who have served the monarchy with distinction and loyalty. The model's noble bearing, the richness of the gold-embroidered costume and the sobriety of the composition place this work in the great tradition of official portraiture at the end of the Ancien Régime.
An exemplary career at the heart of the royal military administration
Jean-Baptiste Berthier was born in Tonnerre, Burgundy, on 6 January 1721. He was the son of Michel Berthier and Jeanne Dumay. Coming from a background already associated with administrative and military service, he received an education in which mathematics, drawing and geography played an essential role.
geography were essential skills for the profession of engineer-geographer.
At a very young age, he entered the King's service with the Royal-Comtois regiment. He quickly distinguished himself through his technical skills in cartography and topographical surveys. At a time when European conflicts demanded ever more precise knowledge of the terrain, the engineer-geographers formed an elite corps responsible for drawing up maps, military plans, strategic routes and reconnaissance surveys.
Berthier's career was particularly rapid. He became engineer-geographer of the King's camps and armies and then, in 1758, became chief engineer of the camps and marches of the royal armies. This leading position placed him at the very
strategic organisation of the kingdom under Louis XV and then Louis XVI.
His responsibilities were considerable: he supervised topographical surveys for military campaigns, coordinated the work of engineers attached to the armies and helped to draw up the maps needed for troop movements. His work involved both military geography and the logistical organisation of marches and camps. Jean-Baptiste Berthier also played an important role in teaching topographical sciences to young officers. The engineer-geographers formed a highly specialised corps, in which scientific rigour met the needs of modern warfare. Through his work and his authority, Berthier helped to improve French cartographic methods in the second half of the 18th century.
His services were rewarded by his ennoblement in 1763. He was also made a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis, an honorary distinction awarded to the most deserving officers of the monarchy.
Versailles, the centre of his authority and influence
The link between Jean-Baptiste Berthier and Versailles is undoubtedly the most remarkable aspect of his career, and gives this portrait a particularly significant historical dimension. Berthier was governor of the hôtels de la Guerre, de la Marine and des Affaires étrangères in Versailles, vast administrative complexes built under Louis XV in the immediate vicinity of the château to house the monarchy's major ministries.
This prestigious position made him a central figure in the royal administration. Responsible for overseeing and running these ministerial buildings, he was at the heart of the monarchy's power on a daily basis and in direct contact with the kingdom's major institutions. The hôtels de la Guerre and des Affaires étrangères were the nerve centres of French military and diplomatic management.
The lasting presence of the Berthier family in Versailles had a profound effect on the town and its administrative history. The name Berthier is still attached to the topography of Versailles through rue Berthier, located in the Notre-Dame district, a discreet but revealing reminder of the importance of this family in the political and military environment of the royal city.
Jean-Baptiste Berthier's influence extended beyond the administrative sphere. Through his role with the engineer-geographers and his experience of military campaigns, he helped to disseminate topographical knowledge within the royal army. À
Through his work in Versailles, he epitomised the generation of high-ranking civil servants who helped to rationalise the monarchy's administration in the final decades of the Ancien Régime.
A major player in French military topography
The 18th century saw cartography become an essential tool for the power of European states. In this context, Jean-Baptiste Berthier played an important role in the development of French military topography.
The engineer-geographers were tasked with producing increasingly accurate maps to enable the royal armies to move around efficiently, prepare for campaigns and gain a better understanding of the kingdom's borders. Berthier was part of this decisive development in military science.
His work was based on meticulous field surveys and observation of roads, landforms, waterways and fortifications. This scientific approach to military space heralded the major cartographic reforms that were to mark the end of the 18th century and the Napoleonic era.
Jean-Baptiste Berthier's influence in this field was also intellectual and educational. His experience helped to train a new generation of officers, for whom mastery of the terrain was becoming a fundamental element of modern military strategy.
This scientific and military culture was directly passed on to his son, Louis-Alexandre Berthier, the future Marshal of the Empire and a remarkable organiser of Napoleon's armies. The cartographic and logistical talents of the future Prince of Wagram were largely due to the training he received from his father.
The father of the future Marshal Berthier
Although posterity has mainly remembered the name of his son, Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Neuchâtel and Wagram, Jean-Baptiste Berthier played a fundamental role in the rise of this illustrious military line. Louis-Alexandre Berthier grew up in the intellectual and administrative environment of Versailles. His father passed on to him very early on the scientific rigour, mastery of cartography and sense of military organisation that were to make him one of the greatest chiefs of staff of his time and Napoleon I's main military collaborator.
The future marshal's exceptional career was thus rooted in the Versailles world of engineers, officers and servants of the monarchy, to which Jean-Baptiste Berthier fully belonged. This portrait therefore takes on an almost dynastic dimension, testifying to the origins of a family destined to play a major role in French military history between the end of the Ancien Régime and the Empire.
A precious record of the late Ancien Régime
By virtue of its official nature, the quality of its execution and the historical importance of the model represented, this work is a precious testimony to the administrative and military world of Versailles on the eve of the French Revolution.
It illustrates the essential role played by engineer-geographers in the monarchy of the Enlightenment, at a time when territorial knowledge, the mastery of maps and the scientific organisation of armies were becoming fundamental instruments of royal power.
of royal power.
The figure of Jean-Baptiste Berthier portrays a whole generation of senior military officials who served the monarchy with skill and loyalty in the last decades of the Ancien Régime. The portrait thus retains both artistic value and a strong historical and memorial significance, evoking one of the key players in the administrative and military life of Versailles in the 18th century.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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