François TAVERNIER (Paris, 1659 - id., 1725) - Lot 51

Lot 51
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Estimation :
3000 - 5000 EUR
François TAVERNIER (Paris, 1659 - id., 1725) - Lot 51
François TAVERNIER (Paris, 1659 - id., 1725) The Repentance of Saint Peter, c.1698-1699 Oil on canvas. H_91 cm W_71 cm Restoration. History: probably one of the two "petits du May" presented to goldsmiths Jean-André Picart and Henri Cain in 1698-1699. Related works: the print by Nicolas-Henri Tardieu (H. 0.12; W. 0.08) printed in 1736 (see below). The painting we present (fig. 1) is exceptional in that it is by François Tavernier, an academician-painter whose work has almost entirely disappeared. What's more, he was preparing the famous annual May commissioned by the goldsmiths' guild for Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Thanks to the biography that was written on Tavernier the day after his death, it is possible to reconstruct certain aspects of his life (Louis Dussieux et al., Mémoires inédits sur la vie et les ouvrages des membres de l'Académie royale de peinture et sculpture, Paris, 1854, 2 vols. t. 2, p. 236-237). We learn that the artist was the son of a wealthy royal carpenter, which favored his literary and artistic education. Tavernier's artistic orientation was determined by a trip to Italy around 1679. On his return to Paris, he became a pupil of Jean Jouvenet (1644-1717). Accepted as a history painter at the Académie Royale in 1704 on presentation of L'Enlèvement de Déjanire (lost), he took part in the Salon that opened the same year, exhibiting three history subjects: La Naissance de Romulus, L'Enlèvement de Déjanire and Neptune sur les eaux (all lost). Tavernier was subsequently appointed historiographer to the Académie royale in 1714 (hence his regular regular presence at the proceedings), then professor in 1724. The same biography tells us that Tavernier painted the high altar of the Collège des Bernardins in Paris. Tavernier's work is as yet unidentified as the twelve large paintings commissioned by Cardinal d'Estrées for the Abbey of Longpont (now in the Aisne département). The only painting attributed to Tavernier is an altarpiece in the Église Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet (Paris). Its classification remains extremely fragile, as an attribution to Adrien Saquespée has been suggested. In this context of total desertion, our painting acquires a crucial dimension, as it is the only one that can be given to François Tavernier with any certainty. In fact, its authorship is assured by Tardieu's engraving (fig. 2), which reproduces many of the Mays de Notre-Dame, in this case the one by Tavernier, offered in 1699 (lost since the Revolution). The absence of inversion is not surprising, as Tardieu's prints after the Mays always appear in the same direction as the reproduced compositions. The status of our painting is typical of the tradition that prevailed at the time: in accordance with the clauses of contracts signed before a notary, it was customary for painters to deliver to each of the two goldsmiths a reduction or sketch of the large composition painted for Notre-Dame, and this is how multiple "petits du May" came to be preserved. du May" are preserved in numerous collections, including the Musée Carnavalet. The reappearance of this very first Tavernier example gives us hope that other examples by the same artist will be identified. Our warmest thanks to François Marandet for compiling this notice and rediscovering this important painting.
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