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Lot Essay
The present work is an exciting rediscovery and is a highly-refined example of the nationalistic, Neoclassical history paintings that Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier produced in his maturity. Meticulously painted on a large wooden panel, the work is signed and dated 1796, the year in which it was exhibited at the Paris Salon. Until now, it has only been known from a description from the Salon’s Livret: `no. 256: L’éducation des enfans à Sparte. On les berçait sur un bouclier et la mère fesait briller à leurs yeux les armes de leur père’ (`The Education of the children of Sparta. They were rocked upon a shield and the mother made their father’s weapons shine in their eyes’). It was one of two works submitted by Le Barbier that year, the other being no. 255, `Virginie dans le moment qu’Icilius son amant l’enlève en présance du décemvir Appius, et que les dames Romaines prennet sa défense’ (`Verginia, at the moment when Icilius, her lover, abducts her in the presence of the decemvir Appius, and the Roman ladies take up her defense’).
The myth of Sparta was source of immense inspiration for writers and artists in Revolutionary France. Spartans were frequently portrayed as emblems of the virtuous self-sacrifice that was crucial to the formation and survival of the ancient Republic. Spartan women, whose patriotism was so fierce that they famously sent their children to war with the instruction “Come back with your shield, or on it!”, were especially favored as subjects. Here, Le Barbier arranges his figures in a frieze-like manner against a sober, stony interior, following a pictorial convention for narrative history paintings popularized by Jacques-Louis David with works such as his Death of Socrates (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Oath of the Horatii (Musée du Louvre, Paris). A strong, cool light descends from upper left, casting the standing maiden holding a distaff at left into shadow while drawing attention to the seated woman who holds the spear and sword. With one breast bare, this idealized figure takes on the appearance of a goddess, an epitome of strength and conviction as she gazes down at her newborn child. Behind her, a muscular young boy tries on his father’s helmet, twisting his torso in a manner reminiscent of a Greek statue.
Born in Rouen on 29 November 1738, Le Barbier studied painting in and around the city in his youth. Arriving in Paris, he trained with Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre at the École de l’Académie Royale. In 1780, he was made an associate member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture, becoming a full member in 1785. Le Barbier first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1789 and, with the exception of one year, continued to do so until 1799. His earliest works are rococo-inflected history paintings in the fashionable neo-grec style of Joseph Marie Vien, but soon thereafter he embraced the more rigorous Neoclassical manner of Jacques-Louis David, as Le Barbier — by then in his forties — took up subjects from ancient history and patriotic themes related to the French Revolution. He was a partisan of the Revolution and an active participant, serving as a member of the Paris Commune (1789-1795) and chosen, along with David, to assist in the ‘regeneration’ of the Académie Royale. Roughly 90 paintings by the artist survive or are recorded, and he was a prolific draftsman, illustrator and writer. He died in Paris on 7 May 1826 and is buried in Pére Lachaise Cemetery.
The myth of Sparta was source of immense inspiration for writers and artists in Revolutionary France. Spartans were frequently portrayed as emblems of the virtuous self-sacrifice that was crucial to the formation and survival of the ancient Republic. Spartan women, whose patriotism was so fierce that they famously sent their children to war with the instruction “Come back with your shield, or on it!”, were especially favored as subjects. Here, Le Barbier arranges his figures in a frieze-like manner against a sober, stony interior, following a pictorial convention for narrative history paintings popularized by Jacques-Louis David with works such as his Death of Socrates (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Oath of the Horatii (Musée du Louvre, Paris). A strong, cool light descends from upper left, casting the standing maiden holding a distaff at left into shadow while drawing attention to the seated woman who holds the spear and sword. With one breast bare, this idealized figure takes on the appearance of a goddess, an epitome of strength and conviction as she gazes down at her newborn child. Behind her, a muscular young boy tries on his father’s helmet, twisting his torso in a manner reminiscent of a Greek statue.
Born in Rouen on 29 November 1738, Le Barbier studied painting in and around the city in his youth. Arriving in Paris, he trained with Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre at the École de l’Académie Royale. In 1780, he was made an associate member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture, becoming a full member in 1785. Le Barbier first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1789 and, with the exception of one year, continued to do so until 1799. His earliest works are rococo-inflected history paintings in the fashionable neo-grec style of Joseph Marie Vien, but soon thereafter he embraced the more rigorous Neoclassical manner of Jacques-Louis David, as Le Barbier — by then in his forties — took up subjects from ancient history and patriotic themes related to the French Revolution. He was a partisan of the Revolution and an active participant, serving as a member of the Paris Commune (1789-1795) and chosen, along with David, to assist in the ‘regeneration’ of the Académie Royale. Roughly 90 paintings by the artist survive or are recorded, and he was a prolific draftsman, illustrator and writer. He died in Paris on 7 May 1826 and is buried in Pére Lachaise Cemetery.