Lot Essay
In his Abécédario Mariette recounts that the present drawing was given directly to him by the artist and that: 'M. Bouchardon, se trouvant un jour de fête à St André della Valle, y vit arriver le cardinal Cienfuegos qui, s'étant mis à un prie-Dieu, se prosterna pour faire sa prière. Son attitude pleine d'expression frappa l'artiste. Il en remplit son imagination et étant de retour dans son cabinet, il la mit sur le papier et s'en servit pour la composition d'un tombeau, dont le dessein m'a été donné par lui-même, comme une de ses meilleures productions.', P. de Chennevières and A. de Montaiglon, Abécédario de P.J. Mariette, Paris, 1851, p. 165.
It is much later that Bouchardon found an opportunity to use the pose he had observed at Sant'Andrea della Valle. On the death of Cardinal de Fleury in 1742, King Louis XV had lost not only a Prime Minister, but the mentor who had educated him in his youth and on whom he had relied after the death of his cousin the Regent in 1723. His government was conservative: he was convinced that peace in Europe was essential. After having unsuccessfully tried to save the throne of Poland for Stanislas Leszczynski, the King's father-in law, Fleury became involved in the War of Succession with Austria. He was already an aged man and this unwanted conflict led to his death.
The commission of the Mausoleum was therefore a major event. It should have been erected in the church of Saint-Louis-du-Louvre. Both Bouchardon and Lemoyne competed for it with modelli that were exhibited at the Salon of 1743 and 1745. Some of Bouchardon's modelli were bought by the King. It is not surprising that Bouchardon on such a solemn occasion may have sought a design from his Roman years. If he re-used the pose of the Cardinal, he however abandoned the overall Roman structure of the tomb, outdated by then. The 1745 modello was part of Mariette's sale and sold for 97 livres to the architect de Wailly, described in the catalogue as 'composé de trois figures & d'une grande colonne, surmontée d'une urne, hauteur de 15 pouces: ce précieux morceau est rempli de grace, & fait d'un grand style'. Two other wax modelli were in the collection of Mr. Pesme earlier this century, S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'école française du dix-huitième siècle, Paris, 1910, p. 107.
Lemoyne's wax project for the Fleury mausoleum was shown at the Salon in 1743 and bought by the King for one thousand livres. The King eventually decided not to finance the project and the family of the Cardinal awarded the commission to Lemoyne. Lemoyne's final design was described by Dézallier d'Argenville in 1787: 'Le mausolée du cardinal de Fleury représente ce prélat étendu sur un tombeau, près de rendre les derniers soupirs entre les bras de la Religion qui l'encourage. L'Espérance, sur un plan plus élevé, dirige son geste et ses regards vers le séjour de l'Eternité, promise au juste. La France, consternée, semble s'éloigner du tombeau, pour se dérober aux horreurs de la catastrophe, et abandonner le ministre à la Religion, chargée de son bonheur. Les symboles des distinctions dont le cardinal étoit décoré, sont au pied du tombeau, avec le cartel de ses armes. Dans le fond de l'arcade qu'occupe cette composition, s'élève une pyramide, surmontée d'une urne cinéraire qu'accompagnaient des festons de cyprès', A.J. Dezallier d'Argenville, Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, Paris, 1745, p. 366. The mausoleum was never finished and the sculptures were transported during the revolution to the Musée des Monuments Français.
It is much later that Bouchardon found an opportunity to use the pose he had observed at Sant'Andrea della Valle. On the death of Cardinal de Fleury in 1742, King Louis XV had lost not only a Prime Minister, but the mentor who had educated him in his youth and on whom he had relied after the death of his cousin the Regent in 1723. His government was conservative: he was convinced that peace in Europe was essential. After having unsuccessfully tried to save the throne of Poland for Stanislas Leszczynski, the King's father-in law, Fleury became involved in the War of Succession with Austria. He was already an aged man and this unwanted conflict led to his death.
The commission of the Mausoleum was therefore a major event. It should have been erected in the church of Saint-Louis-du-Louvre. Both Bouchardon and Lemoyne competed for it with modelli that were exhibited at the Salon of 1743 and 1745. Some of Bouchardon's modelli were bought by the King. It is not surprising that Bouchardon on such a solemn occasion may have sought a design from his Roman years. If he re-used the pose of the Cardinal, he however abandoned the overall Roman structure of the tomb, outdated by then. The 1745 modello was part of Mariette's sale and sold for 97 livres to the architect de Wailly, described in the catalogue as 'composé de trois figures & d'une grande colonne, surmontée d'une urne, hauteur de 15 pouces: ce précieux morceau est rempli de grace, & fait d'un grand style'. Two other wax modelli were in the collection of Mr. Pesme earlier this century, S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'école française du dix-huitième siècle, Paris, 1910, p. 107.
Lemoyne's wax project for the Fleury mausoleum was shown at the Salon in 1743 and bought by the King for one thousand livres. The King eventually decided not to finance the project and the family of the Cardinal awarded the commission to Lemoyne. Lemoyne's final design was described by Dézallier d'Argenville in 1787: 'Le mausolée du cardinal de Fleury représente ce prélat étendu sur un tombeau, près de rendre les derniers soupirs entre les bras de la Religion qui l'encourage. L'Espérance, sur un plan plus élevé, dirige son geste et ses regards vers le séjour de l'Eternité, promise au juste. La France, consternée, semble s'éloigner du tombeau, pour se dérober aux horreurs de la catastrophe, et abandonner le ministre à la Religion, chargée de son bonheur. Les symboles des distinctions dont le cardinal étoit décoré, sont au pied du tombeau, avec le cartel de ses armes. Dans le fond de l'arcade qu'occupe cette composition, s'élève une pyramide, surmontée d'une urne cinéraire qu'accompagnaient des festons de cyprès', A.J. Dezallier d'Argenville, Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, Paris, 1745, p. 366. The mausoleum was never finished and the sculptures were transported during the revolution to the Musée des Monuments Français.