Portrait du sculpteur Roland(François-André Vincent)
Having started working with his father, François-Elie Vincent (1708-1790) a portraits and miniatures painter, François-André Vincent (Paris, 1746-1816) then learned historical painting with two master portraits painters, Alexandre Roslin (1718-1793), and later, around 1760, with Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809), professor at l’Académie Royale.
In 1768, he won first prize with his Germanicus apaisant une sédition dans son camp (Paris, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts). Heentered l’École royale des Elèves Protégés, then under the directorship of Natoire and remained there until 1771, when he received his patent to become a boarder at l’Académie de France à Rome. He left for the eternal city on August 27th. During his stay in Italy he painted multiple portraits, including one of Mgr. Ruffo (1775), with such skill in the rendering of the features, that Natoire would write on the 17th of May 1775, in a letter to d’Angiviller, Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi: « Nos élèves travaillent tous avec zèle. Le sr Vincent a fait quelques portraits dernièrement, d’un très bon goût ; il me paraît que ce sera la partie où il voudra le plus s’occuper. »
Back in Paris, probably around December 1775, Vincent moved in with his father. Once accepted into l’Académie on May 31st 1777, he became a permanent member on April 27th 1782 with his painting l’Enlèvement d’Orythie par Borée (Paris, musée du Louvre). In 1784, he moved to the former workshop of Durameau at the Louvre, who had gone to live in Versailles. On September 24th 1785, he was appointed adjunct professor at l’Académie Royale, then later, on the 7th of July 1792, professor. After the death of Charles-Nicolas Cochin, in 1790, he was also made Garde des Dessins du Roi. According to the contemporary critic, Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Chaussard (1766-1823), Vincent, who was primarily a history painter, had « jamais cessé de faire sentir à se élèves combien il est important d’imiter fidèlement la belle nature. Il a le premier émis l’opinion que les peintres d’histoire devaient faire des portraits, afin de s’habituer à rendre fidèlement ce qu’ils voyaient. »
In 1794, with Gérard winning first prize, he received the second prize at the Concours de l’An II for portraying a glorious episode of the Revolution, La Citoyenne de Saint-Milhier entourée de ses enfants et menaçant de faire sauter, a painted sketch where one could read the motto: « A tout âge et tout sexe on vit la Liberté enfanter l’héroïsme et l’intrépidité. ». If Vincent agreed with revolutionary ideals, he firmly remained a moderate republican. He wrote to his friend Saint-Ours, on January 12th 1791: « Je fuis les extrêmes et je hais tout esprit de passion. Ne croyez pas cependant que je sois neutre, ce serait me faire tort, on ne saurait dans les circonstances actuelles demeurer indifférent, et par conséquent j’ai mon opinion bien précise (…) ». He was personally affected when his sister Suzanne Griois was sent to the guillotine on June 17th 1794, convicted of having taken part in the Baron de Batz’ conspiracy.
During the Directoire, L’Institut national des Sciences et des Arts was created on October 25th 1795. Vincent became an elected member on the 17th of December, together with his old master, Joseph-Marie Vien.
Seen to be of general utility for the glorification of the Republic, L’Institut, whose role consisted in publishing and demonstrating new scientific and literary discoveries, was subdivided into three categories: Physics and Mathematics, Moral and Political Science and Literature and Fine Arts. In this third category painters, sculptors, architects, novelists, poets and singers may be found. For twenty years, until his death, Vincent actively participated in weekly meetings. As a result of his dedication, hard work, curiosity and kindness, he gained his colleagues’ trust and was nominated on April 27th 1796 as Commissioner of Expenditure, and, the next year on March 22nd 1797, Financial Commissioner. Very much invested in his different roles through his entire career, Vincent still participated in every Salon from 1777, except those of 1793 and 1796.
At the 1798 Salon, Vincent presented two paintings that are described in the catalogue as follows: « 425. L’Agriculture ; 426. Le Portrait du C. Roland, sculpteur membre de l’Institut national des Sciences et des Arts. ». When the Salon first opened, on July 19th 1798, the artist’s paintings were not yet visible. One of the main newspapers of the time, La Décade Philosophique, Littéraire et Politique, expressed its regrets in its first article about fine arts, august 7th 1798. It lamented about the absence of the great painter figures: « Des regrets se mêlent à ces plaisirs : David, Vincent, Regnault, etc., n’ont point exposé de tableaux (…) Ils se sont fait représenter en quelque sorte par leurs élèves, génération de talents qui justifiant nos espérances promet le plus riche avenir. ». On September 6th 1798, In the same newspaper, P.[Publicola] Ch. [Chaussard] (none other than famous critic Pierre-Jean-Baptiste Chaussard) wrote about his disappointment: « Je regrette de n’avoir pas vu le grand tableau annoncé par le C. Vincent, et dont je me proposais de rendre compte dans les premiers numéros. Je me bornerai à transcrire la note de l’artiste qui connu par ses talents dans l’exécution, est bien digne d’ouvrir la carrière de la composition philosophique. ». Just such a great painting was La Leçon d’Agriculture. Finally, in the last article about fine arts, on September 16th 1798, relating specifically to portraits, sculptures, engravings and architecture, Chaussard mentioned the artist: « Les portraits du C. Charles, Professeur de Physique (N°. 203) ; du C. Janvier, Mécanicien-Astronome (N. 204), de la citoyenne Capet, Artiste (N°. 205), ont le double mérite d’intéresser par le sujet et par l’exécution (…) / Cet intérêt règne encore dans les portraits du C. Roland, Sculpteur (N°. 426), par Vincent (…) le talent de Vincent ne m’a pas paru égal à lui-même. (…) P.S. Depuis la publication de ces articles, on a exposé plusieurs tableaux extrêmement intéressants. / La Leçon d’Agriculture, par le C. Vincent (N°. 425). Toujours la vigueur du dessin et le coloris particulier de cet artiste… »
Thus, thanks to contemporary press articles, we know that Vincent exhibited his paintings more than a month and a half after the opening of the Salon. Did he hang the painting during the temporary closure of the Salon (14th and 15th of September), as recorded in Le Journal de Paris on the 13th of September 1798? Indeed at that time, the Salon closed to facilitate the rehanging of paintings, following some artists’ complaints about the lack of visibility given to history paintings. The Salon was consequently prolonged by 15 days until October 6th.
Even though it is difficult to precisely date the exact moment Vincent exhibited his paintings at the Salon, it is interesting to know that a document exists in the Archives des Musées Nationaux, registering the alphabetical order of the artists who had given special notice of the works they would present (AMN X-Salons an VI (1798), Vincent’s name does appear but without any registration number. (Maybe he hesitated, uncertain as of which painting to register). Whatever the reason, next to L’Agriculture, certainly a very moral and patriotic painting promoting the sound values of the Drectoire’s bourgeoisie- family, labour, propriety in a pedagogical approach of arts as useful communication tools- Vincent decided to show a portrait.
In the 1798 Salon, one out of three painting shown was a portrait. The Revolution had profoundly affected the hierarchy of the genre since after the 1791 decree, which allowed artists from every background to take part in the Salon’s exhibition, the dissolution of l’Académie Royale in 1793 consequently ended major commissions as well as private patronage. This situation forced artists to seek potential paymasters using their own resources in order to escape financial precariousness. From this point onward we may see the democratisation of portraiture which was no longer the sole privilege of the aristocracy or upper classes. The Revolution’s ideals, as well as the philosophy of the Enlightenment, propagated new concepts such as civic and democratic virtue, minimising the distance between the individual social classes. From now on the status of the individual depended only on his talent and actions, and no longer on his wealth or family line. The artist’s status is hence forward defined by his genius which might promote him to a higher level of consideration. Writers and philosophers careers were also influenced by the fame trend. This new position allowed Vincent to celebrate and glorify his artist colleagues and friends through his portraits. The fashion for ‘friendship portrait’ at that time became especially noticeable in paintings. Vincent, skilled portraitist since the very beginning of his career, presented at this Salon of 1798, a friendship portrait, as underlined by the hand-written inscription on the back of the canvas: Peint par son amis [sic] Vincent, de l’Institut de France & c à paris l’an 1797. The very challenge of showing this painting in such a public manner in the 1798 Salon proves how attached the artist is to this portrait and its subject.
Philippe-Laurent Roland (1746-1816) was Vincent’s exact contemporary. Originally from the North of France, he was born in Pont-à-Marcq, near Lille. Coming from a modest background, his father was a tailor and café-owner, who had sent him to Lille to learn wood sculpture and drawing at the municipal school of arts, with Tillier and Gueret. In 1764, aged 18, he went to Paris and entered Augustin Pajou’s (1730-1809) sculpture workshop. The latter encouraged him to work on marble. Soon enough he realised the extent of his student’s potential and involved him in his decoration work for the Palais-Royal (1767-1769) and Versailles (1768-1770).
After saving up for a long time, in 1770, Roland travels to Italy, using his own means in order to study there for five years. In Rome, he understands that every person aspiring to become an interpreter of nature’s most sublime display needed to form his own tastes by studying works of antiquity as well as the old masters. The Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York has a terracotta from his Italian period, Jeune dormeur (ca. 1774).
Once back in Paris, around 1776, he took part in the decoration of le Chateau Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, belonging to the Comte d’Artois, the future Charles X. The eagle-shaped mirror-tops on oak panels from the chateau may nowadays be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Pajou, acknowledging his talented student, encouraged him to complete a work that would allow him to compete for entrance to the Académie. He was received on March 2nd 1777 with la mort de Caton d’Utique (Lille, musée des Beaux-Arts). Vincent, who had enrolled since 1777, became a permanent member in April 1782. It is probably around this time that Roland and Vincent’s paths cross. That very same year, following Pajou’s advice, he married Thérèse-Françoise Potain, daughter of Nicolas Potain (1713-1796), an architect and Contrôleur Général des Bâtiments du Roi. In 1784, Pajou obtains a residence at the Louvrefor him. In 1786, Roland took part in designing the layout of Louis XVI’s and Marie-Antoinette’s small apartment in Fontainebleau. Around 1785-1787, he sculpted the marble statue of le Grand Condé (Versailles, musée de Château National). During the Revolution, just like Vincent he advanced his career, he was a moderate republican. Beneath the Pantheon’s peristyle, he sculpted La Loi et la Législation (1792-1793).
In 1795, during the founding of l’Institut de France, Roland unanimously was elected a member of the fine arts category, thus joining Vincent and participating in the reunions. From that period dates one of his finest sculptures, la Bacchante montée sur une chèvre qu’elle tourmente avec son thyrse (Metropolitan Museum of Art), 1796 and presented at the 1798 Salon. Throughout his career, in parallel to his mythological themes, and designs, Roland also sculpted numerous head-and-shoulders portraits, including his own self-portrait circa 1785 (Metropolitan Museum of Art), and that of Augustin Pajou in 1797 (Louvre) where the student’s respect for his master is quite apparent. During the year 1798-1799, he participated in the commission which was sent to Italy in order to bring back works of arts from the Napoleonic campaigns.
Hard-working and conscientious and fully committed to his art, just like Vincent, Roland took part in every Salon from 1783. In 1798, he presented four sculptures, described as such in the catalogue, with the following numbers: 542. Portrait en buste proportion nature ; 543. Bacchante montée sur un bouc ; 544. Groupe en marbre, composé de trois figures, représentant le Serment d’amour ; et 545. Une pendule modelée par Roland, représentant les Quatre Saisons sur un char tiré par deux lions, conduits par l’Amour. Vincent and Roland must have made friends from the day they met. Our portrait of Roland, which was presented to the public by Vincent at the 1798 Salon, is a strong testimony of this old and solid friendship between the two artists. If, in the ‘friendship-painting’ genre, the sitter’s vocation is usually apparent, depicting his corporation’s tools and often situated in his workshop, Vincent here takes an unusual turn giving us a very intimate vision of his friend. Vincent concentrated on that sense of respectability that Roland inspired at that time. Closely framing his subject, Vincent suppresses all superfluous details. The sober background is a warm light grey that reminds us of the backgrounds to revolutionary portraits and which allows us to focus our full attention on the subject’s face in a very idiosyncratic way. The features are precisely described with almost unforgiving veracity. Roland is shown half-length, viewed side-on, sitting with his elbow on the backrest of his chair. He turns towards us to gaze directly at us. The 51-year-old sculptor, with his grey hair, wears a large unbuttoned brown jacket, so that we can see a red badge, la décoration de l’ordre de la legion d’honneur de l’Institut de France. His tie undone, the white shirt is open at the neck, an indication of modest and simple tastes, but also, maybe, of constrained elegance. In his right hand in the foreground, delicately posed on the chair seat, is the only reference to the sitter’s profession, a sculptor’s tool. Vincent’s restrained and limited range of palette is somewhat reminiscent of Joseph-Marie Vien’s technique. This is especially evident in the use of heavy impasto in the whites, which are particularly visible on the jacket and the thick, almost shimmering nature of the pigmentation. The gentle lighting falls delicately on the sitter, so as to throw his features into relief just as if he was a piece of sculpture. Contemporary critics, notably L’Itinéraire Critique, apparently did not grasp the artist’s intention or fully understand this portait and so denigrated it aggressively: « Le cit. Rolland est assis de côté. Son bras est appuyé sur le dos de sa chaise. C’est ressemblant, je n’en doute pas. C’est bien dessiné ; qui oserait en douter ? mais ce n’est pas un bon portrait. »
Notwithstanding, if we refer to David d’Angers’s (1788-1856) biography: Roland et ses Ouvrages, published in 1847, and its description of Roland who was his master, one may see that this is extremely close to the way that Vincent has portrayed his sitter in 1797: « Son teint très-coloré annonçait un tempérament sanguin ; mais en lui l’élément nerveux prédominait (…) La tête développée, le front très large par le haut ; son crâne offrait une protubérance extrêmement prononcée, celle de la persévérance. Les traits de son visage portaient l’empreinte de la disposition habituelle de son esprit, les yeux vifs et pénétrants comme ceux de l’artiste, la bouche grande, mais bien dessinée. Comme des hommes occupés de choses sérieuses, il parlait peu de ses rapports sociaux ; il apportait une réserve digne et une loyale franchise, que rehaussait une grande austérité de principes. Nul artiste, plus que lui, n’a imprimé son caractère dans ses ouvrages. C’est de Roland qu’on peut dire avec vérité : Le style c’est l’homme. » (p. 38)
In consequence, we might say that Vincent successfully captured both the character and mien of this, his sculptor friend in order to accurately depict in this portrait every aspect of his personality.
Paris, private collection
Explication des ouvrages de Peinture et Dessins Sculpture, Architecture et Gravure, exposés
au Muséum central des Arts, d’après l’Arrêté du Ministre de l’Intérieur, le 1er Thermidor, an
VI de la République française, Paris, an VI de la République, p. 76 ;
La Décade philosophique, littéraire et politique, n° 36, 30 Fructidor an VI, p. 536 ;
Itinéraire critique du Salon de l’an VI. Dédié aux artistes, par un amateur [F. J. A. Doix],
Paris an VI, p. 21 ;
- B. Duseigneur, called Jehan du Seigneur, « Appendice à la réédition de la Notice Historique
sur Vincent, peintre d’histoire par Chaussard », in Revue Universelle des Arts, XVII, April/September
1863, pp. 49-54 ;
- Renouvier, Histoire de l’art pendant la Révolution, considéré principalement dans les
estampes, Paris, 1863, pp. 75, 445 ;
- Bellier de la Chavignerie, L. Auvray, Dictionnaire général des artistes de l’école
française depuis l’origine des arts du dessin jusqu’à nos jours, Paris, vol. 2, 1885, p. 691 ;
- Marmottan, L’école française de peinture (1789-1830), Paris, 1886, p. 445 ;
- F. Heim, C. Béraud, P. Heim, Les Salons de peinture de la Révolution française : 1789-
1799, Paris, 1989, p. 387 ;
- P. Cuzin, Vincent entre Fragonard et David, Paris, 2013, pp. 220-221 repr., p. 479.
Arch. m. nat., X-Salons an VI (1798).
Exhibited at the Salon de l’an VI (1798), n° 426 : « Le Portrait du C. Roland, sculpteur, membre
de l’Institut national des Sciences et des Arts. »
François-André Vincent (1746-1816), Tours, musée des Beaux-Arts, October 18th 2013 – January 19th 2014, et Montpellier, musée Fabre, February 8th –May 14th 2014 (without catalogue).