Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault (Paris 1754-1829)
Property from The Estate of James Pearson Duffy
Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault (Paris 1754-1829)

Portrait of the artist's son, Antoine-Louis Regnault (1788-1856)

Details
Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault (Paris 1754-1829)
Portrait of the artist's son, Antoine-Louis Regnault (1788-1856)
oil on canvas
31 x 24½ in. (78.7 x 62.2 cm.)
Provenance
with Heim Gallery, London, by Autumn 1972, where acquired by the present owner ($10,000).
Literature
J. P. Cuzin in French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, exhibition catalogue, Paris-Detroit-New York, 1974-1975, p. 577. C. Sells, 'A portrait by J.-B. Regnault', Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin, XXXV, Fall 1975, pp. 14-24, fig. 4. D.F. Mosby, Cinco Siglos de Obras Maestras de la pintura en colecciones norteamericanas cedidas en préstamo a Costa Rica, exhibition catalogue, Detroit, 1978, pp. 84-5, no. 30.
C. Sells, Jean Baptiste Regnault: Biography and catalogue raisonné, unpublished dissertation, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, 1981, pp. 278-80, no. 13, fig. 68.
Exhibited
London, Heim Gallery, Paintings and Sculptures 1770-1830, 11 September-21 December 1972, no. 11. Museo de Jade, Instituto de Seguros, San José, Costa Rica, Cinco Siglos de Obras Maestras de la pintura en colecciones norteamericanas cedidas en préstamo a Costa Rica, 6 May-30 June 1978, no. 30.

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Lot Essay

The sitter is identified by his brassard as an aide-de-camp of a lieutenant-general of the Empire. On his cross-belt, the badge originally displayed a Napoleonic eagle which was subsequently covered, during the Reformation, with the Royal fleur-de-lys, but has reappeared. The medals are those of the Légion d'honneur and the Ordre de Saint Louis. This resembles Regnault's practice in other family portraits, in which military decorations could be 'updated' to reflect new honors or political developments. Antoine-Louis Regnault had a distinguished military career serving during the Empire in Prussia, Poland and the Peninsular War; he continued to serve after the Reformation and retired in 1853 with the rank of a brigadier-general and as a Commandeur of the Légion d'honneur.

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