Jean-Baptiste ISABEY. 1791-1824. Painter.
Portrait of Eugène-Napoléon DAVOUT (son of the Marshal). 1811
Signed and dated lower right “Isabey Xbre 1811”
Inscription on the bottom register: “Napoleon D** / born February 24, 1811”
Watercolor on paper, gilded wood frame
20 x 15 cm, with frame 28.5 x 23.5 cm
Horace VERNET. 1789-1863. Painter
Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Isabey
1828
Oil on canvas
81 x 64,6 cm
Louvre Museum Paris
© RMN-Grand Palais (Louvre museum) / Michel Urtado
Jean-Baptiste Isabey, a talented portrait painter
“Painter in miniature”, this is the inscription engraved on the tomb of Jean-Baptiste Isabey in the Père-Lachaise cemetery. The one who will be considered the best portrait painter of his time will never see his talent challenged. Isabey was born in 1767 in Nancy, a city where he began his apprenticeship with Claudot, painter of Stanislas, he already revealed his talents as a portraitist and in Paris, he persevered in the genre under the advice of David himself, who would subsequently become his friend. He stands out from the portrait painters of his time such as Sicardi or Jacques Dumont, by his ability to combine grace and dignity in small, intimate formats and succeeds in reconciling the imperative of idealization and the models' concern for reality. Being portrayed by Isabey then became almost an imperative for members of high society of the time. Under all successive regimes, Isabey held a major place in the artistic and social life of her time, but it was under the first empire that her influence was most flamboyant. After the fall of the Emperor and although he remained faithful to him, he continued to paint under the restoration for Louis XVIII. Under the Second Empire, Napoleon III covers with honor the man who was his mother's teacher. He dedicated a room at the Louvre to the exhibition of his costume designs for the coronation, awarded him a pension of 6,000 francs and awarded him the tie of Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1854. He painted until he was old. aged 70 before giving up his brushes after writing his memoirs.
Annoux Castle (Yonne)
Jean-Baptiste ISABEY. 1791-1824.
Painter.
Portrait of Eugène-Napoléon DAVOUT (son of the Marshal).
1811
Signed and dated lower right “Isabey Xbre 1811”
Inscription on the bottom register: “Napoleon D** / born February 24, 1811”
Watercolor on paper, gilded wood frame
20 x 15 cm, with frame 28.5 x 23.5 cm
This drawing was commissioned by Marshal of the Empire Louis-Nicolas Davout, Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmühl. Under the advice of Desaix, he was promoted to marshal at a very young age in 1804 by Napoleon, who was then first consul. The latter will never regret having placed his trust in his lieutenant who will be the only one to experience no failure and who distinguished himself in particular at Austerlitz, Eylau, Wagram and Auerstaedt.
From his union on November 9, 1801, with Louise Aimée Julie Leclerc, sister of General Charles Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc and sister-in-law of Pauline Bonaparte, several children were born, including Napoléon-Louis. He was born on February 24, 1811 and succeeded his father as Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmühl. It was on the occasion of this birth that the marshal ordered our watercolor from Isabey who was then the greatest portraitist of his time. The artist then uses an iconography that he previously used in a watercolor representing the King of Rome two weeks after his birth. In this work the heir to the Empire lies on his back, his head resting in a helmet of Mars, the god of war. He displays the attributes of war and glory, flanked by a saber, he wears in a saltire the large cords of the Legion of Honor and the Iron Crown while clutching the crown of the Lombards in his fist. Two flags displaying the French and Austrian imperial eagles sit above the young monarch. Isabey here integrates the king of Rome into a dynastic representation taking up the markers of power established by her father.
The Davout heir benefits from a more bucolic representation, the helmet of the god Mars is replaced by a basket filled with flowers. He is holding a little spitz on his lap, a particularly fashionable dog in the 19th century. The baby doll is delicately painted and a youthful and endearing sweetness emerges from her face with its rosy cheeks. But beyond the representation of a simple child, it is also that of an heir. In order to emphasize this dimension, the painter sketches in the distance the Château d'Annoux, birthplace of Marshal Louis Nicolas and stronghold of the Davout house. On the death of his father in 1823, Louis Napoleon inherited his titles but he died in 1853 without leaving any descendants, and the title of Prince of Eckmühl disappeared with him.
Jean-Baptiste ISABEY. 1791-1824. Painter.
The King of Rome after his birth
1811
Watercolor, pen and gray wash, graphite.
Signed: 'J. Isabey 1811'. On a base: 'March 1811'. Note in pencil stuck in the margin: '15 days after the birth of the King of Rome, the Emperor gave me the order to paint his portrait'. Bottom margin: 'first portrait'.
18,9 x 25,5 cm
Louvre Museum,
© RMN-Grand Palais (Louvre museum) / Thierry Le Mage
Provenance :
- Collection David David-Weill en 1909
- Sir Charles Clore Collection (d. 1979),
- Private collection
Bibliography:
- Gillet, Jeannerat & Clouzot, Miniatures and enamels from the David-Weill collection, 1957, no. 98, pp. 170-171
- Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855): portraitist of Europe: [exhibition, Rueil-Malmaison], National Museum of the Châteaux of Malmaison and Bois-Préau, October 18, 2005-January 9, 2006, Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy, January 28, 2006-April 19, 2006 / catalog by François Pupil; with the collaboration of Bodo Hofstetter, Cyril Lécosse, Alain Pougetoux, Tamara Préaud, p.13
- Joseph Valynseele, The marshals of the first Empire, their family and their descendants, MCMLVII, 126 Boulevard Magenta Paris, p.187
