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Jean-Léon GÉRÔME (1824-1904). Allegory of science: study for…
See original version (French)
Jean-Léon GÉRÔME (1824-1904). Allegory of science: study for…
See original version (French)
Lot no. 122
Description
Jean-Léon GÉRÔME (1824-1904).
Allegory of science: study for the mural decoration of the allegories of the arts and sciences in the refectory of the Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory in Paris (1852, destroyed in 1965).
Pencil and stump signed and dedicated lower right: "To my friend Membrée" (?), probably for Edmond Membrée (1820-1882), French composer.
Paper lined in full on cardboard.
Size: 75x32 cm.
(Unevenly cut paper, insolate, stains, small hole bottom right).
Expert: Cabinet Perrazone-Brun.
The decoration of Saint-Martin-des Champs :
In 1850, Léon Vaudoyer (1803-1872) gave plans to convert the 13th-century refectory of the Saint-Martin-des Champs priory into a library for the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, a museum of techniques housed in the former monastery, since the Revolution.
At the entrance, he designed a modest classical portico with pediment and caryatids. The interior was to be decorated in the neo-Gothic style. On 2 February 1850, Jean-Léon Gérôme asked for a commission to paint the two blind windows on the east wall, enclosing a drawing with his letter, which has now unfortunately been lost.
On 7 February, he was awarded the contract for five thousand francs, payable in instalments.
Gérôme's paintings were destroyed when the room was redecorated in 1965.
The allegories of the arts and sciences represent six figures arranged in blind ogival niches in the back wall of the Gothic room, formerly a refectory, now a library.
Two pairs of standing allegorical figures, "Sculpture and Painting" and "Chemistry and Physics", are surmounted by medallions representing heads: Ars and Scientia.
An oil sketch of the allegories, made in 1852 and measuring 55 x 45 cm, is in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier. It was bought by Théophile Silvestre for Alfred Bruyas, who then donated it to the museum.
The Chalet on rue de Fleurus:
The artists' phalanstery where Gérôme lived during the events of 1848 is a house at 27, rue de Fleurus, near Luxembourg, divided into studios. This dwelling was nicknamed "the Chalet".
The studios of Gérôme, Picou and Hamon opened onto an obscure corridor. The painters received each other at all hours. Gautier and Champfleury described life at the Chalet as that of a community that was more aesthetic than revolutionary.
There were also musicians, not the least of whom were Membrée, Jacquard, Armingault and Lalo, who sang in choir and played chamber music.
Gérôme arrived at the Chalet in 1846. He stayed there until 1853 or 1855, then after a short stay on rue Duguay-Trouin, he left for Egypt.
Bibliography: Gerald M. Ackerman, Jean-Léon Gérôme. Monographie révisée et catalogue raisonné mis à jour, collection "Les orientalistes", Éditions ACR, Paris, 2000.
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