Page 69 - Revolution Republique Empire Restauration

FRANÇOIS PASCAL SIMON GERARD, called BARON GERARD
Rome 1770 – 1837 Paris

Corinne au Cap Misène

Oil on canvas 133.5 x 148 cm (52 1/2 x 58 1/4 in)

PROVENANCE: Collection des articles insérés au constitutionnel sur
Commissioned by the Maison du Roi (M. d. R.) l’exposition de cette année, Paris, 1822, p. 43, and
under Louis XVIII on October 16, 1820 (paid FF pp. 82-92, illustrated with a lithograph by C.
20,000); Motte after the 1821 version in Lyon.
Musée Royal du Luxembourg (inv. no. MR/No C. Lenormant, François Gérard, peintre d’histoire,
3804, verso); Paris, 1847, p.180.
Taken away by Charles X and offered in 1828 to
Madame Zoë Talon, Countess Baschi du Cayla ENGRAVED:
(1785-1852); By Zachée Prévost, 1827 (Fig.1).
Removed from the museum inventory in 1833;
By descent to the Countess’s daughter, Ugoline T he present canvas was commissioned in
Baschi du Cayla, wife of Prince Beauvau Craon; 1820 by the Maison du Roi under Louis
By whom donated to the Marquis Christian de XVIII and follows the larger version (with
N***, according to the will of the Countess du some variations) completed in 1821 for
Cayla;1 Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia (Fig.2).2 In 1819,
Thence by descent in the family as an homage to the fascinating and often controver-
sial Madame de Staël who had died two years previ-
EXHIBITED: ously, the prince requested that Gerard illustrate
Paris, Salon, 1822, no. 569, as ‘Corinne au cap this specific subject from her celebrated novel
Misène (M.d.R.).’ Corinne ou l’Italie, with the implied suggestion that
Paris, Salon, 1824, no. 746, as ‘Répétition avec the novel’s two main characters, the ill-matched
divers changemens [sic] du tableau de Corinne’. lovers Corinne and Oswald, be depicted as resem-
bling Madame de Staël and himself. However, the
LITERATURE: prince did not insist on this point, possibly because
A Thiers, Salon de Mil Huit Cent Vingt-Deux, ou

1.The Countess’ will was executed by MaîtreYver in Paris, 17 April 1852 and stated:‘Vous rachetterez le tableau de Corine pour l’offrir à M. le Marquis Christian
de N*** qui voudra bien j’espère, l’accepter en mémoire de moi, plus tard.’
2. Corinne au Cap Misène, 1819, oil on canvas, 256 x 277, Lyon, Musée de Beaux-Arts.

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