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Lot Essay
This work is one of a group of four Triumphs of the Seasons, of which two others are extant: a Triumph of Winter, until recently in the Ehrmann collection, Paris, and sold at Couturier & de Nicolay, Paris, 15 December 1992, lot 49 (FF 3,100,000 = $584,079) and a Triumph of Spring (see lot 37 in this sale). A fragment from a replica of Triumph of Spring, is in the Musée de Nantes. According to Ehrmann, a Triumph of Autumn may have been in a Paris collection sometime prior to 1939, but no photograph of it has come to light.
The early history of Caron's Triumph of the Seasons has only recently been established on the basis of documents discovered by Mme. M. Jurgens at the National Archives in Paris. The four paintings by Caron are mentioned as being in the collection of Alexandre Olivier at the time of his death in 1607, when they were deeded to his wife, Marguerite de Héry. On 28 July 1612, they were acquired from her for the sum of 252 livres by her son, as part of the final settlement of the estate. They are again recorded in an inventory made in the Olivier Aubin's house 'vis à vis de la galerie du Louvre' at the time of his death in 1620, when they were presumably inherited by his two sons, Aubin and Alexandre.
The Triumph of the Seasons are later documented as the property of a certain Simon de Vaulx, perfumer to Queen Marie de Medici, in his house on the Ile de la Cité, 'à la descente du Pont Notre-Dame, près la Madeleine'. De Vaulx began to acquire works of art in about 1608, and assembled a sizeable collection that is detailed in an inventory of 1651. The collection was probably dispersed shortly thereafter.
The early history of Caron's Triumph of the Seasons has only recently been established on the basis of documents discovered by Mme. M. Jurgens at the National Archives in Paris. The four paintings by Caron are mentioned as being in the collection of Alexandre Olivier at the time of his death in 1607, when they were deeded to his wife, Marguerite de Héry. On 28 July 1612, they were acquired from her for the sum of 252 livres by her son, as part of the final settlement of the estate. They are again recorded in an inventory made in the Olivier Aubin's house 'vis à vis de la galerie du Louvre' at the time of his death in 1620, when they were presumably inherited by his two sons, Aubin and Alexandre.
The Triumph of the Seasons are later documented as the property of a certain Simon de Vaulx, perfumer to Queen Marie de Medici, in his house on the Ile de la Cité, 'à la descente du Pont Notre-Dame, près la Madeleine'. De Vaulx began to acquire works of art in about 1608, and assembled a sizeable collection that is detailed in an inventory of 1651. The collection was probably dispersed shortly thereafter.