Lot Essay
The present work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre de Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute.
Ingres' interest in Joan of Arc (c. 1412-31) began in 1844 with a series of drawings. In 1851 the artist was commissioned by the newly instituted government of Napoleon III to paint Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII (fig. 1). The painting was finished in 1854 and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855. Although Ingres was never overtly political, it is certain that the image of the maiden of Orleans, French patriot and martyr, was a potent symbol that the Second Empire could appropriate to project notions of tradition and infuse a sense of national unity in a very volatile political environment.
Towards the end of his life Ingres returned to this subject. In this highly worked study which the artist began in 1862 and reworked in 1866, by extending the composition, Joan of Arc is depicted staring upwards towards what appears to be a ray of divine light gently beaming down on her and comforting her in her mission.
The technically highly accomplished style of this work is typical of Ingres. It embodies the academic tradition that he taught and so staunchly defended, as well as illustrating the ease with which he borrowed from 15th century primitive oil painting. The buildings in the background, to the right, have been identified as those of the convent of Mueng-sur-Loire with its clearly visible 11th century steeple. In 1429 Joan of Arc made an heroic assault on the bridge at Meung. It is significant that Ingres was in the habit of spending his summers in this town where the brother of his second wife, Albert Ramel, was a municipal councillor. In this portrait Ingres successfully conveys a sense of the Saint's youthful beauty at the same time as expressing the solemnity of her terrifying destiny. She is still in the guise of the fragile, young peasant from Domrémy, barely clutching her lance, but clearly announces the heraldic, accomplished warrior-saint of the Louvre's coronation painting.
Ingres' interest in Joan of Arc (c. 1412-31) began in 1844 with a series of drawings. In 1851 the artist was commissioned by the newly instituted government of Napoleon III to paint Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII (fig. 1). The painting was finished in 1854 and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1855. Although Ingres was never overtly political, it is certain that the image of the maiden of Orleans, French patriot and martyr, was a potent symbol that the Second Empire could appropriate to project notions of tradition and infuse a sense of national unity in a very volatile political environment.
Towards the end of his life Ingres returned to this subject. In this highly worked study which the artist began in 1862 and reworked in 1866, by extending the composition, Joan of Arc is depicted staring upwards towards what appears to be a ray of divine light gently beaming down on her and comforting her in her mission.
The technically highly accomplished style of this work is typical of Ingres. It embodies the academic tradition that he taught and so staunchly defended, as well as illustrating the ease with which he borrowed from 15th century primitive oil painting. The buildings in the background, to the right, have been identified as those of the convent of Mueng-sur-Loire with its clearly visible 11th century steeple. In 1429 Joan of Arc made an heroic assault on the bridge at Meung. It is significant that Ingres was in the habit of spending his summers in this town where the brother of his second wife, Albert Ramel, was a municipal councillor. In this portrait Ingres successfully conveys a sense of the Saint's youthful beauty at the same time as expressing the solemnity of her terrifying destiny. She is still in the guise of the fragile, young peasant from Domrémy, barely clutching her lance, but clearly announces the heraldic, accomplished warrior-saint of the Louvre's coronation painting.