Galerie Dreyfus
20
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PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE (BRUSSELS, 1602 – PARIS, 1674)
The Vi…
See original version (French)
20
-
PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE (BRUSSELS, 1602 – PARIS, 1674)
The Vi…
See original version (French)
Estimate €48,000 - €60,000
Voluntary lot
Description
PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE
(BRUSSELS, 1602 – PARIS, 1674)
The Virgin in Prayer
c. 1640–1645
Oil on canvas
59 x 50 cm.
Bibliography
B. Dorival, Philippe de Champaigne 1602–1674, Paris, 1976, p. 19, no. 21, reproduced on p. 401.
B. Dorival, Supplement to the catalogue raisonné of the works of Philippe de Champaigne, 1976,
pp. 21–22, no. 29, reproduced on p. 403.
J. Goncalves, Philippe de Champaigne, online catalogue raisonné, no. M10.
Provenance
Former private collection, Marseille.
Private collection, France.
In the contemplative silence of a composition of rare intensity, a devotional figure
presents itself to us with the majesty characteristic of the Grand Siècle. A Virgin, like an icon of
Jansenist spirituality, emerges from a dark background to reveal to us a face of
sculptural purity. Entirely absorbed in a divine intuition, she presents us with a three-quarter profile
of absolute nobility, her gaze lost in an inner contemplation where the visible
seems to fade before the invisible.
This work, historically documented by Bernard Dorival and recently brought back into
the spotlight by José Goncalves, is not merely a religious effigy. It constitutes the
masterful and authentic remnant of a monumental composition that has since disappeared: *The Dream
of Joseph*, painted by the master for the Church of the Minimes in Paris. Mary, placed here in the
foreground, offers a striking contrast to the usual depictions. Her presence
is monumental, almost architectural. She is clad in a deep blue cloak,
with heavy, skilfully rendered folds that catch a cold, almost lunar light, typical of the
artist’s mature period.
Particular care has been taken with the modelling of the face and the rendering of the hands.
The style, with its careful attention to volume and based on bold, black shadows, foreshadows the
rigour of the Port-Royal masterpieces. The lighting, coming from an angle, focuses on the forehead and
the hand resting on the heart, thereby reinforcing the expression of unshakeable faith and
supreme calm. Champaigne, a painter of silence and inner truth, here revitalises the genre of
the devotional image by imbuing it with an exceptional psychological and historical dimension.
This rediscovered fragment, whose scale and execution betray the master’s hand, remains a
vital testament to the artist’s genius.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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