Galerie Dreyfus
34
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PIERRE GOBERT FONTAINEBLEAU, 1662 – PARIS, 1744
Portrait of …
See original version (French)
34
-
PIERRE GOBERT FONTAINEBLEAU, 1662 – PARIS, 1744
Portrait of …
See original version (French)
Estimate €60,000 - €75,000
Voluntary lot
Description
PIERRE GOBERT
FONTAINEBLEAU, 1662 – PARIS, 1744
Portrait of the Duchess of Burgundy (1685–1712)
c. 1710
Oil on canvas
78 x 92 cm.
This is a rather unusual scene, despite a few familiar touches. This young
aristocrat, with her prim demeanour, is having her palm read by a fortune-teller
whilst a young boy tries to steal money from her purse. Whilst the
scene is not unlike Caravaggio’s iconography and, more broadly, the street scenes
of the early 17th-century Roman Baroque painters, the same scenario seems incongruous
a century later. Seated on a stone bench in the middle of a park, the young Duchess of
Burgundy, adorned in a sumptuous court gown and a feathered headdress, turns towards
us as if to call us as witnesses, whilst the Gypsy woman, kneeling before her,
takes her hand whilst staring intently at her. The child, meanwhile, fully absorbed in his task, looks down
towards the purse. The social hierarchy is evident in the duchess’s posture and
her opulent finery, as well as in the milky whiteness of her complexion, whilst the other two
figures have tanned skin. Bathed in light, this princess, who captivates the
court of Versailles, stands at the apex of this pyramidal composition. With his characteristic
grace, Pierre Gobert creates a subtle composition in which, through the feigned simplicity of a
genre scene, he highlights the nobility of his subject, the mother of the future Louis XV.
Pierre Gobert (1662–1744) was a French portrait painter. Grandson of Jean Gobert the Elder,
a joiner and sculptor; son of Jean II Gobert, sculptor to the King; and brother of Jean Gobert, ‘
ordinary painter to the King’, Pierre belonged to a line of court artists. Admitted to the Academy of Painting
in 1701, he made a name for himself with his elegant figures. Highly sought-after at the Court of Versailles, he soon became
one of the aristocracy’s favoured painters, particularly for the royal family. Among these
portraits are those of the future Louis XV, as well as several portraits of his mother, the Duchess
of Burgundy, the Court’s muse. In 1707, Gobert was approached by the Court of Lorraine to
paint a portrait of the family of Duke Leopold of Lorraine, including the Duchess Elisabeth-Charlotte
d’Orléans, daughter of Monsieur, the King’s brother. Gobert then established a studio to produce
an impressive collection of seventy portraits. Having become the ‘official painter’ to the Duke
of Lorraine, Gobert contributed to the artistic splendour of the court of Lunéville, which sought
to follow in the footsteps of Versailles. On his return to Paris, Gobert worked for the Condé family, the
Conti family and then Prince-Elector Max-Emmanuel of Bavaria. In 1737, he presented at the Salon one of
his most ambitious portraits, the family of the Duke of Valentinois (now in the Prince’s Palace in
Monaco). Regarded as one of the first ‘galant’ portraitists, Pierre Gobert succeeded in creating a
‘Grand Siècle’ style that set him apart from his contemporaries Nicolas de Largillierre (1656–1746)
and Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). He brilliantly embraced the fashion for historical portraits that
depicted aristocrats as heroes or mythological deities.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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