Page 28 - Jacques Blanchard - Myth and Allegory
P. 28
Fig. 3 - Attrib. to NICOLAS PRÉVOST, Column (from which this martial type
Ulysses commanding Circe to return his men to human form, derives) Rubens undoubtedly knew. Equally,
Blanchard could have encountered these
red chalk, 135 x 185 mm., works during his own brief stay in Rome. His
Paris, Musée du Louvre, INV 23768. Bravo only superficially calls to mind the
antique, but it can be argued that the Nymph
derives partly from the Sleeping Ariadne,
which, in the 16th century, lived in the
Belvedere, where it was installed above a
Trajanic sarcophagus.
This comparison is worth noting, if only to
remind ourselves that like the masterpieces
of the Venetian and Fontainebleau schools,
certain antiquities became distilled in
baroque painting so universally that they are
often taken for granted, or overlooked.
While the antique should only be taken as a
signpost and never a destination in
Blanchard’s work, recognising its presence
might occasionally aid us in our efforts to
appreciate his complexities.
eee
In terms of narrative and command of
composition, the picture shows Blanchard
at the height of his powers, particularly in his
ability to balance the relaxed sensuality of the
sleeping Nymph with the baroque tension of
the overall composition, specifically the pose
of the interfering Bravo. A red chalk drawing
in the Louvre, Ulysses commanding Circe to
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