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Lot Essay
In October 1756, the Mercure de France announced the publication of La Muse Clio and La Muse Erato, two new engravings by Jean Daullé that reproduced original paintings by François Boucher made in that year for the official mistress to the king and his great patroness, Madame de Pompadour. Eight years later, in the posthumous sale of the Pompadour's property, lot 18 consisted of the 'Muse Terpsichore' (the Muse of Dance who, like Erato, the Muse of Love Poetry, carries a tambourine) and the 'Muse Polymnia' (the Muse of Eloquence and Heroic Hymns who, like Clio, the Muse of History and Song, carries a trumpet). Whether the paintings engraved by Daullé were the same as those listed in the estate sale, their correct subjects simply misidentified, has never been clarified. Complicating the issue is the fact that Daullé may not have engraved a true pair of paintings, but rather two out of a larger suite of canvasses. As Alastair Laing remarked in 1987 (in correspondence with the present author; see A. Wintermute, op.cit., p. 67), 'Muses don't go in pairs but in nines'. Laing was the first to attempt to connect the pairs of muses engraved by Daullé and listed in Madame de Pompadour's sale with a reference in her Inventory to 'neuf tableaux representants les Neuf Muses' in the Hôtel d'Evreux (see J. Cordey, Inventaire des biens de madame de Pompadour, rédigé après son décès, 1939, p. 29, no. 259). Laing noted that 'the grand cabinet of the hôtel de Pompadour (now the Elysée Palace) was nothing other than a 'cabinet des Muses': there were indeed nine of them 'dans leurs cadres de bois doré' - as Cordey recorded - 'but because they were fixtures, unlike most of the other paintings in the inventory...they were not valued and not intended for removal. The pair of Muses in her sale (Terpsichore and Polymnia) is not to be found in her inventory and must have been late-comers from elsewhere'. Laing believes that the muses that Boucher painted for the Marquise are lost. A version of The Muse Clio in the Wallace Collection, London, that precisely follows Daullé's print is neither signed nor dated, and is of pedestrian quality; John Ingamells (op. cit.), Laing (in correspondence) and Jo Hedley (in François Boucher: Seductive Visions, London, 2004, pp. 135, 137, fig. 110) have all consigned it to the 'Studio of Boucher'. An autograph version of The Muse Erato (private collection) that is identical to Daullé's engraving, is of considerably higher quality than the Wallace Collection Clio, but is also neither signed nor dated, and cannot be identified conclusively as having been made for the Marquise (see A. Wintermute, op. cit., no. 41).
By far the best surviving versions of Clio and Erato (or Polymnia and Terpsichore, as they have often been identified) are the present paintings in the Champalimaud Collection. Reclining regally in the sky on a bed of clouds, the two muses are attended by winged amorini. Clio, muse of History, is draped in a rose-coloured cloak, holds a trumpet and rests her elbow on a lyre as her putto declaims the contents of the scroll from which he reads. Erato, draped in sapphire blue, points toward her tambourine as the putto at her feet presents her with the laurel crown of love poetry. The canvasses are freely drawn, vigorously brushed and suavely executed, with the faces of the muses rendered with a cool, placid beauty appropriate to the subjects and characteristic of Boucher throughout his career. The lively putti draw on his sense of humour, his delight in the plumpness, energy and seriousness of little children.
The Champalimaud pictures are the only versions of the compositions that are either signed or dated: however, as Clio clearly bears the date of 1758 - two years after Daullé's engraving was published - the pair cannot have been painted for Madame de Pompadour. Undoubtedly, the popularity of Daullé's prints and the prestige of the Pompadour's name and reputation as a discerning patron of the arts would have created a market for painted replicas of her muses. By the mid-1750s, Boucher was at the very height of his international renown and he oversaw a large, well-trained workshop capable of successfully reproducing his most sought-after compositions - indeed, many of the greatest European painters of the next generation apprenticed under Boucher's direction at that time, including Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Little is known of the precise operations of the studio but, undoubtedly, money (and perhaps the importance of the client) would have determined the degree to which Boucher himself would have participated in the reproduction of his compositions: in short, the more one paid the more of Boucher himself one got.
It is probable that Boucher executed the Champalimaud pendants for Louis-François Armand de Vignerod du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu (1696-1788), advisor to Louis XV and, ironically, an arch-nemesis of Madame de Pompadour at Versailles. The paintings would have been commissioned in 1757 or 1758 by the Maréchal for installation in the Hôtel de Richelieu, the townhouse that he acquired late in 1756 on the Rue Louis-le-Grand, and which he preceded to decorate lavishly. In his sale, held in Paris from 18-30 December 1788, lot 14 lists a 'Vénus et l'Amour' and a 'Clio sur les nuages accompagnée d'un Génie et entourée de divers instruments de musique' which, though imperfectly identified, correspond closely to the Champalimaud paintings. As Laing observed upon examining them, the paintings appear to be executed by Boucher himself with some support from his workshop. Indeed, some level of studio assistance was the standard procedure in making overdoors during the later decades of Boucher's career; however, the extremely high quality of the Champalimaud canvasses and the fact that they are signed by the artist suggest that they are principally from the artist's own brush and were made with a valued patron like Richelieu in mind.
The Champalimaud Clio is in reverse direction from Daullé's print, while Erato is in the same direction as its engraving, as is the case with all known painted versions of both compositions. This supports Laing's contention that Daullé was not engraving a true pair of paintings, but two from a larger series of nine muses. The Champalimaud paintings, in contrast, are clearly intended to form a pendant pair as the muses are made to face each other. (Though 'Muses don't go in pairs', overdoors often do, and Boucher would have adapted to market demands in this matter.) Boucher has introduced other small variations into the paintings not present in Daullé's prints or other painted versions of the compositions. For example, Clio's extended leg is uncovered in the Champalimaud painting and her left breast exposed, while in the earlier versions she is more demurely draped; beneath her harp is a laurel crown rather than a floral wreath. Likewise, the Champalimaud Erato is presented with a laurel crown by the putto, rather than a garland of flowers as in Daullé's print, and she instead holds the flowers beneath her tambourine. Technical examination of the paintings reveals that the canvasses were originally scalloped along the edges, no doubt to fit in curving boiserie panelling; it is probable that the canvasses were rectangularized sometime in the 19th century.
By far the best surviving versions of Clio and Erato (or Polymnia and Terpsichore, as they have often been identified) are the present paintings in the Champalimaud Collection. Reclining regally in the sky on a bed of clouds, the two muses are attended by winged amorini. Clio, muse of History, is draped in a rose-coloured cloak, holds a trumpet and rests her elbow on a lyre as her putto declaims the contents of the scroll from which he reads. Erato, draped in sapphire blue, points toward her tambourine as the putto at her feet presents her with the laurel crown of love poetry. The canvasses are freely drawn, vigorously brushed and suavely executed, with the faces of the muses rendered with a cool, placid beauty appropriate to the subjects and characteristic of Boucher throughout his career. The lively putti draw on his sense of humour, his delight in the plumpness, energy and seriousness of little children.
The Champalimaud pictures are the only versions of the compositions that are either signed or dated: however, as Clio clearly bears the date of 1758 - two years after Daullé's engraving was published - the pair cannot have been painted for Madame de Pompadour. Undoubtedly, the popularity of Daullé's prints and the prestige of the Pompadour's name and reputation as a discerning patron of the arts would have created a market for painted replicas of her muses. By the mid-1750s, Boucher was at the very height of his international renown and he oversaw a large, well-trained workshop capable of successfully reproducing his most sought-after compositions - indeed, many of the greatest European painters of the next generation apprenticed under Boucher's direction at that time, including Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Little is known of the precise operations of the studio but, undoubtedly, money (and perhaps the importance of the client) would have determined the degree to which Boucher himself would have participated in the reproduction of his compositions: in short, the more one paid the more of Boucher himself one got.
It is probable that Boucher executed the Champalimaud pendants for Louis-François Armand de Vignerod du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu (1696-1788), advisor to Louis XV and, ironically, an arch-nemesis of Madame de Pompadour at Versailles. The paintings would have been commissioned in 1757 or 1758 by the Maréchal for installation in the Hôtel de Richelieu, the townhouse that he acquired late in 1756 on the Rue Louis-le-Grand, and which he preceded to decorate lavishly. In his sale, held in Paris from 18-30 December 1788, lot 14 lists a 'Vénus et l'Amour' and a 'Clio sur les nuages accompagnée d'un Génie et entourée de divers instruments de musique' which, though imperfectly identified, correspond closely to the Champalimaud paintings. As Laing observed upon examining them, the paintings appear to be executed by Boucher himself with some support from his workshop. Indeed, some level of studio assistance was the standard procedure in making overdoors during the later decades of Boucher's career; however, the extremely high quality of the Champalimaud canvasses and the fact that they are signed by the artist suggest that they are principally from the artist's own brush and were made with a valued patron like Richelieu in mind.
The Champalimaud Clio is in reverse direction from Daullé's print, while Erato is in the same direction as its engraving, as is the case with all known painted versions of both compositions. This supports Laing's contention that Daullé was not engraving a true pair of paintings, but two from a larger series of nine muses. The Champalimaud paintings, in contrast, are clearly intended to form a pendant pair as the muses are made to face each other. (Though 'Muses don't go in pairs', overdoors often do, and Boucher would have adapted to market demands in this matter.) Boucher has introduced other small variations into the paintings not present in Daullé's prints or other painted versions of the compositions. For example, Clio's extended leg is uncovered in the Champalimaud painting and her left breast exposed, while in the earlier versions she is more demurely draped; beneath her harp is a laurel crown rather than a floral wreath. Likewise, the Champalimaud Erato is presented with a laurel crown by the putto, rather than a garland of flowers as in Daullé's print, and she instead holds the flowers beneath her tambourine. Technical examination of the paintings reveals that the canvasses were originally scalloped along the edges, no doubt to fit in curving boiserie panelling; it is probable that the canvasses were rectangularized sometime in the 19th century.