The Mass or Death of Saint Benoit

Details

Studio of Philippe de Champaigne (Brussels 1602-1674 Paris)
The Mass or Death of Saint Benoit
oil on canvas
35¾ x 57½ in. (90.9 x 146.4 cm.)

Provenance

Commissioned by Queen Anne of Austria (1601-1666) for her private apartments in the Val-de-Grâce convent in Paris.
Confiscated during the French Revolution.
Private collection, France.

Literature

B. Dorival, Supplément au Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre de Philippe de Champaigne, Paris, 1992, pp. 21-2, no. 12, illustrated.

Special notice

All sold and unsold lots marked with a filled square in the catalogue that are not cleared from Christie’s by 5:00 pm on the day of the sale, and all sold and unsold lots not cleared from Christie’s by 5:00 pm on the fifth Friday following the sale, will be removed to the warehouse of ‘Cadogan Tate’. Please note that there will be no charge to purchasers who collect their lots within two weeks of this sale.

Lot Essay

The present lot formed part of a set of twelve scenes depicting the life of Saint Benoit, as recounted in a work by Angelus Sangrinus. The series was commissioned in 1646 by Queen Anne of Austria (1601-1666) to decorate her apartment at the convent of Val-de-Grâce, to where she eventually retired. The artist’s studio is believed to have played a significant role in the execution of the cycle, of which eight other works are recorded, with six in the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, one in the Musée de Menton, and another in the Hermitage (see Dorival, op. cit., pp. 21-22).

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