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Lot Essay
Lagrenée’s Hebe Pouring Nectar for Jupiter is a large oil sketch (or modello) for a vast oval ceiling painted by the artist in 1772 as part of the decorative scheme of the residence of Marc-René de Voyer d’Argenson, marquis de Voyer (1722-1782) on the rue des Bons-Enfants, near the Palais-Royal; Lagrenée’s finished painting is today in the collections of the Banque de France, Paris.
The rebuilding and redecoration of the marquis de Voyer’s hôtel particulier is exceptionally well documented. The Hôtel de Voyer d’Argenson, formerly known as the Hôtel de la Chancellerie d’Orléans, had been constructed at the beginning of the 18th century. By 1752, it was the property of Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d’Argenson, Secretary of War and former chancellor to Louis, duc d’Orléans. When the comte d’Argenson fell into disgrace and went into exile in February 1757, the house was taken over by his son, the marquis de Voyer. Between 1762 and 1772, the marquis de Voyer had the building renovated and fashionably decorated in the emerging neoclassical style by the architect Charles de Wailly (1730-1798). As was customary, the architect was responsible for all aspects of both the interior and exterior decoration, providing academicians and guild members alike with instructions and designs and reviewing and approving their work. De Wailly hired the sculptor Augustin Pajou (1730-1809) to create carved decorations, the bronze founder Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) for cast bronze embellishments and the architect François-Joseph Bélanger (1744-1818) to design the arabesques. He also proposed ceilings depicting pleasing mythological subjects to be painted by members of the Académie for several of the principal rooms. Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was assigned the ceiling of the dining room, Louis-Jacques Durameau (1733-1796) that of the marquise’s bedroom, and Gabriel Briard (1725-1777), the ceiling of the vestibule. Fragonard’s ceiling was the first to be done; he started work on 7 April 1767, once the arabesque surrounds were in place. It was another two years before Durameau finished his ceiling depicting The Awakening of Aurora (which de Wailly speculated the patron would prefer to Fragonard’s work). Briard’s Labors of Hercules was the last of the three ceilings to be completed. In July 1772, once all the rooms were finished, Fragonard’s ceiling was painted over and replaced with Lagrenee’s canvas ceiling depicting Hebe Pouring Nectar for Jupiter. Apparently, de Wailly knew his client’s taste quite well. There is no record of Fragonard’s reaction to his work being destroyed, but, as Colin Bailey has wryly noted, 'he certainly could not have been pleased'. There is also no record of what Fragonard’s composition looked like, although it has been speculated that it may have resembled his Group of Putti (c. 1767; Louvre), which Diderot famously described as 'a nice big omelet of children in the sky'.
When the Hôtel de Voyer d’Argenson was demolished in 1923 for the construction of the rue du Colonel Driant, the rooms were dismantled, inventoried and stored – for almost a century – in warehouses of the Banque de France, which had committed to rebuilding it on another site at the bank’s expense. In 2021, the rooms finally reopened, fully restored and installed on the first floor of the Hôtel de Rohan, with substantial support from the World Monuments Fund.
Lagrenée’s expansive and colorful dining room ceiling closely follows the design that he laid out in the Aitken modello: in both, the protagonists are viewed from below, with Jupiter seated on a cloud above Olympus, his elbow resting on a blue cloth draped over an elaborately carved, gilded table. Hebe, Jupiter’s daughter and cup-bearer to the Gods, flies toward him, her head wreathed in flowers. She holds a large golden ewer from which she pours nectar into the golden cup that her father extends to her. The principal difference between the oil sketch and the finished painting is that greater prominence is given to Jupiter’s eagle in the Aitken sketch, while his presence is diminished in the ceiling, and he bears a playful putto on his winged back. Unsurprisingly, the sketch is much more loosely, briskly painted than the final ceiling, which is executed with a more precise, neoclassical polish. The Aitken sketch itself is documented shortly after it was completed, having appeared at auction in Paris as early as 1778, and again one year later, where it was clearly described and identified as an ‘esquisse terminée’.
Jean-Jacques Lagrenée, known as Lagrenée the Younger, was a student of his more famous older brother, Louis Lagrenée (1724-1805). He travelled with his brother to Russia in 1760, where Louis had been appointed court painter to Empress Catherine the Great. After returning to Paris in 1762, Jean-Jacques was awarded a pension at the French Academy in Rome, where he lived from 1763 to 1768; while in Rome he established a reputation as a painter of decorative ceiling paintings, winning a commission in 1768 from the Roman Senator Abbondio Rezzonico to decorate his Roman residence, the Palazzo Senatorio. Jean-Jacques was provisionally accepted into the Académie Royale upon his return to Paris the following year and formally received for full membership in 1775 with the submission of his ceiling decoration, Winter, which he painted for the Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre. His ceiling for the theatre at the Petit Trianon depicting Apollon, les Grâces et les Muses was unveiled in 1779. As artistic director of the Sèvres porcelain factory between 1785 and 1800, he created numerous designs, including the famous Etruscan service for Marie-Antoinette’s dairy at Rambouillet. He was more specialized than his brother in history painting and exhibited regularly at the Salons until 1804, after which he seems to have largely retired from painting.
The rebuilding and redecoration of the marquis de Voyer’s hôtel particulier is exceptionally well documented. The Hôtel de Voyer d’Argenson, formerly known as the Hôtel de la Chancellerie d’Orléans, had been constructed at the beginning of the 18th century. By 1752, it was the property of Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d’Argenson, Secretary of War and former chancellor to Louis, duc d’Orléans. When the comte d’Argenson fell into disgrace and went into exile in February 1757, the house was taken over by his son, the marquis de Voyer. Between 1762 and 1772, the marquis de Voyer had the building renovated and fashionably decorated in the emerging neoclassical style by the architect Charles de Wailly (1730-1798). As was customary, the architect was responsible for all aspects of both the interior and exterior decoration, providing academicians and guild members alike with instructions and designs and reviewing and approving their work. De Wailly hired the sculptor Augustin Pajou (1730-1809) to create carved decorations, the bronze founder Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) for cast bronze embellishments and the architect François-Joseph Bélanger (1744-1818) to design the arabesques. He also proposed ceilings depicting pleasing mythological subjects to be painted by members of the Académie for several of the principal rooms. Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was assigned the ceiling of the dining room, Louis-Jacques Durameau (1733-1796) that of the marquise’s bedroom, and Gabriel Briard (1725-1777), the ceiling of the vestibule. Fragonard’s ceiling was the first to be done; he started work on 7 April 1767, once the arabesque surrounds were in place. It was another two years before Durameau finished his ceiling depicting The Awakening of Aurora (which de Wailly speculated the patron would prefer to Fragonard’s work). Briard’s Labors of Hercules was the last of the three ceilings to be completed. In July 1772, once all the rooms were finished, Fragonard’s ceiling was painted over and replaced with Lagrenee’s canvas ceiling depicting Hebe Pouring Nectar for Jupiter. Apparently, de Wailly knew his client’s taste quite well. There is no record of Fragonard’s reaction to his work being destroyed, but, as Colin Bailey has wryly noted, 'he certainly could not have been pleased'. There is also no record of what Fragonard’s composition looked like, although it has been speculated that it may have resembled his Group of Putti (c. 1767; Louvre), which Diderot famously described as 'a nice big omelet of children in the sky'.
When the Hôtel de Voyer d’Argenson was demolished in 1923 for the construction of the rue du Colonel Driant, the rooms were dismantled, inventoried and stored – for almost a century – in warehouses of the Banque de France, which had committed to rebuilding it on another site at the bank’s expense. In 2021, the rooms finally reopened, fully restored and installed on the first floor of the Hôtel de Rohan, with substantial support from the World Monuments Fund.
Lagrenée’s expansive and colorful dining room ceiling closely follows the design that he laid out in the Aitken modello: in both, the protagonists are viewed from below, with Jupiter seated on a cloud above Olympus, his elbow resting on a blue cloth draped over an elaborately carved, gilded table. Hebe, Jupiter’s daughter and cup-bearer to the Gods, flies toward him, her head wreathed in flowers. She holds a large golden ewer from which she pours nectar into the golden cup that her father extends to her. The principal difference between the oil sketch and the finished painting is that greater prominence is given to Jupiter’s eagle in the Aitken sketch, while his presence is diminished in the ceiling, and he bears a playful putto on his winged back. Unsurprisingly, the sketch is much more loosely, briskly painted than the final ceiling, which is executed with a more precise, neoclassical polish. The Aitken sketch itself is documented shortly after it was completed, having appeared at auction in Paris as early as 1778, and again one year later, where it was clearly described and identified as an ‘esquisse terminée’.
Jean-Jacques Lagrenée, known as Lagrenée the Younger, was a student of his more famous older brother, Louis Lagrenée (1724-1805). He travelled with his brother to Russia in 1760, where Louis had been appointed court painter to Empress Catherine the Great. After returning to Paris in 1762, Jean-Jacques was awarded a pension at the French Academy in Rome, where he lived from 1763 to 1768; while in Rome he established a reputation as a painter of decorative ceiling paintings, winning a commission in 1768 from the Roman Senator Abbondio Rezzonico to decorate his Roman residence, the Palazzo Senatorio. Jean-Jacques was provisionally accepted into the Académie Royale upon his return to Paris the following year and formally received for full membership in 1775 with the submission of his ceiling decoration, Winter, which he painted for the Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre. His ceiling for the theatre at the Petit Trianon depicting Apollon, les Grâces et les Muses was unveiled in 1779. As artistic director of the Sèvres porcelain factory between 1785 and 1800, he created numerous designs, including the famous Etruscan service for Marie-Antoinette’s dairy at Rambouillet. He was more specialized than his brother in history painting and exhibited regularly at the Salons until 1804, after which he seems to have largely retired from painting.