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Lot Essay
'[Vouet] a fait un grand nombre de Vierges, et avoit mesme un talent particulier pour les bien représenter' (A. Félibien, Noms des peintres les plus célèbres et les plus connus anciens et modernes, Paris, 1679, II, p. 187). As recorded by Félibien, the Virgin and Child, depicted half-length, was a particular speciality of Vouet. No less than twelve paintings of this subject by the artist were engraved, of which seven, including the present lot, are dated to within the artist's lifetime, and five to shortly after his death.
As the Thuillier points out, loc. cit., a renewed level of devotion to the Virgin was evident in France in the 1630s, when this picture was painted; indeed, in 1638 (the year this picture was engraved) King Louis XIII dedicated his kingdom to the Virgin. In addition, there was a growing passion for the devotion of Christ as a Child, following the birth of the Dauphin in 1638. The subject of Virgin and Child was thus greatly in demand from artists of the time, who did not fail to respond. The success of such artists as Jacques Blanchard in producing small-scale, half-lengths of the Virgin, intended for a private clientèle, must have encouraged Vouet to do follow suit, painting several versions of the subject from the 1630s. The present lot is a rare survival, however, and of the few still known this is the smallest and, judging by the date of the engraving, one of the earliest.
As the Thuillier points out, loc. cit., a renewed level of devotion to the Virgin was evident in France in the 1630s, when this picture was painted; indeed, in 1638 (the year this picture was engraved) King Louis XIII dedicated his kingdom to the Virgin. In addition, there was a growing passion for the devotion of Christ as a Child, following the birth of the Dauphin in 1638. The subject of Virgin and Child was thus greatly in demand from artists of the time, who did not fail to respond. The success of such artists as Jacques Blanchard in producing small-scale, half-lengths of the Virgin, intended for a private clientèle, must have encouraged Vouet to do follow suit, painting several versions of the subject from the 1630s. The present lot is a rare survival, however, and of the few still known this is the smallest and, judging by the date of the engraving, one of the earliest.