Pierre Subleyras

Amiral Comte de Saint-Bon, Minister of the Italian fleet, Italy, end of the 19th century;
Acquired from the above, G. Christin, Nyon, France, June 1911.

O. Michel and P. Rosenberg, Subleyras, 1699-1749, exh. cat., Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, Rome, Villa Medici, 1987, pp. 252-253;
O. Arnaud, "Subleyras, 1699 à 1749," in L. Dimier, Les peintres français du XVIIIe siècle, Histoire des vies et catalogue des oeuvres, Paris-Brussels, 1930, t. II, p. 83, under no. 133.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in spectacular condition. The canvas is still stretched on its original stretcher. The inscription on the reverse is clearly visible and undamaged. The paint layer has most likely never been cleaned or varnished. There is one recent retouch in the lower left corner. If carefully cleaned and varnished, the picture would brighten considerably and more depth in the darker colors would be acquired.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Unlike many of his French contemporaries who espoused the whimsical Rococo aesthetic, Pierre Subleyras distinguished himself with a measured, earnest and elegant style which championed a more classicizing and Roman style, harkening back to the vocabulary of Poussin.  Displaying artistic talent from an early age, Subleyras completed his initial training in Toulouse before moving to the French Academy in Paris. In 1727 he won the Grand Prix de Peinture which carried a scholarship for study in Italy, and in 1728 he left for Rome where he would remain almost exclusively until his early death in 1749. He spent seven years at the French Academy in Rome before being accepted at the Italian Academy of Saint Luke in 1740. Concentrating principally on portraiture and religious scenes, Subleyras' precision, fine colouring and noble, incisive rendition of his subjects rapidly won him an eminent reputation, particularly favoured by the city's princely and papal circles. In the company of Poussin, Subleyras is one of the very few French artists to be privileged with a commission for St. Paul's Basilica (Altar of St Basil, 1745).

When Prosper Lambertini was elected Pope Benedict XIV in August 1740, it was Subleyras who won the commission for an official papal portrait in spite of keen competition from the most respected of Maratta's students, Agostino Masucci. This celebrated original, painted between 1740 and 1741 and generally agreed to be the version now housed at the Musée Condé, Chantilly (see Michel and Rosenberg, op. cit., 1987, p. 250), generated many subsequent versions by Subleyras and numerous copies, including examples at the Museo Palazzo Venezia, Rome; Kunstsammlungen, Dresden and the Royal collection, Hampton Court (see N. Garnier-Pelle, Chantilly Musée Condé : Peintures du XVIIIe siècle, 1995, p. 131; Michel and Rosenberg, op. cit., 1987, p. 250).

In contrast to this much reproduced canvas, the present portrait, signed and dated 1746, proffers a distinctive and striking portrayal of Benedict XIV which revitalized papal iconography. With a frontal bust composition in place of a seated three-quarter view pose, Subleyras suppresses foreground space and eliminates distractions of ornamental detail so that the pope's features dominate the picture plane. Whilst some of Subleyras' larger religious scenes display a certain anonymity among figures, this penetrating portrait invites a more intimate and psychological inspection. Removing the gesture of benediction and the boundary of the chair arm from his original portrait, Subleyras presents a less imposing and altogether more human depiction of Benedict XIV, which focuses attention not so much on his position of great sovereignty but rather upon his much celebrated character, idolised by his subjects in his intellectual pre-eminence, his zeal and his humility.

Robust and sincere, this sophisticated portrait ably exhibits the sober and refined style with which Subleyras enchanted Italy despite his French roots and for which he was, in the last ten years of his career, regarded as the premier painter in Rome.