Jean-Jacques Lagrenée

Acquired by the present owner's uncle in Paris in the early part of the 20th century;
Thence by inheritance to the present owner's father;
Thence by descent.

Paris, Salon, 1781, no. 34 ("Les fils de Tarquin, admirant la vertu de Lucrèce... Ce Tableau a 6 pieds de large, sur 4 de haut").

Explication des Peintures, Sculptures, Gravures, de Messieurs de L'Académie Royale, Paris 1781, pp. 10-11, no. 34;
J. Locquin, La peinture d'histoire en France de 1747 à 1785, Paris 1912, pp. 252 and 255;
L. Hautecoeur, Histoire de l'art, Paris 1959, p. 56;
E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Paris 1976, ed., vol. 6, p. 383;
M. Sandoz, Les Lagrenée. II. - Jean-Jacques Lagrenée 1739-1821, Paris 1988, pp. 226-27, no. 135 (as location unknown).

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 large and impressive painting has been reinforced in places around the edges but the canvas itself is unlined. There are a couple of small patches on the reverse on the left hand side and restorations have been applied in the waist of the woman embroidering and in the upper left quadrant in the background. For the most part, the remainder of the picture is un-cleaned, unabraded and unrestored. The condition is remarkable and while the paint layer is quite visible cracked, it is not unstable. One could consider lining the canvas to correct the visible cracking yet the condition is clearly beautiful.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This painting by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée is exceptional not only for its dimensions but also for its remarkable state of preservation. Jean-Jacques was a pupil of his elder brother Louis-Jean-François (1725-1805), also a painter. He won second prize in the Prix de Rome in 1760 and was granted permission to stay at the Académie de France à Rome between 1763 and 1768. Having settled in Paris, Jean-Jacques was approved (agrée) by the Académie Royale in 1769 and received as a full member six years later in 1775, becoming adjoint à professeur in 1776 and professeur in 1781. Indeed when he exhibited the present work at the Paris Salon in 1781, along with twelve other paintings and numerous drawings, Jean-Jacques was described as 'M. De La Grenée le jeune, Professeur'.

Jean-Jacques was an accomplished decorative painter, executing ceilings in the Galerie d'Apollon in the Louvre, and also receiving numerous religious commissions, such as the cycle for the royal chapel at Fontainebleau. He later experimented with painting on glass and porcelain, assuming the position of artistic director of the Manufacture de Sèvres from 1785 to 1800. Lagrenée's easel paintings are almost exclusively history pictures and, like his elder brother and Jean-Marie Vien, he was particularly attracted to subjects of ancient history. His style perfectly conforms to the French neoclassical aesthetic of the last quarter of the 18th century and this painting is no exception: the figures are shown in dramatic poses, their theatrical gestures carried out with measured restraint; and the palatial interior, with its elegant classical proportions, frames the scene perfectly, rather like a backdrop in a stage set.

The subject of this painting is taken from Livy's History of Rome (I: 57) and is rarely represented (so much so that the catalogue accompanying the Paris Salon of 1781 described the narrative): "One day when the young men were drinking at the house of Sextus Tarquinius, after a supper where they had dined with the son of Egerius, Tarquinius Conlatinus, they fell to talking about their wives, and each man fell to praising his wife to excess. Finally Tarquinius Conlatinus declared that there was no need to argue; they might all be sure that no one was more worthy than his Lucretia. "Young and vigorous as we are, why don't we go get out horses and go and see for ourselves what our wives are doing? And we will base our judgement on whatever we see them doing when their husbands arrive unannounced." Encouraged by the wine, "Yes, let's go!" they all cried, and they went on horseback to the city. Darkness was beginning to fall when they arrived and they went to the house of Conlatinus. There, they found Lucretia behaving quite differently from the daughters-in-law of the King, whom they had found with their friends before a grand feast, preparing to have a night of fun. Lucretia, even though it was night, was still working on her spinning, with her servants, in the middle of her house. They were all impressed by Lucretia's chaste honor." This episode led to the more commonly represented Rape of Lucretia: it was on this occasion that Sextus Tarquinius was seduced by Lucretia's beauty and exemplary virtue, leading days later to his violation of her chastity. Lagrenée has chosen to depict the dramatic moment in which Lucretia is discovered: virtuously intent on spinning with her servants, Lucretia looks up as if interrupted in her task; her husband stands in the centre, indicating his wife's virtue with outstretched arm. He looks back to the group of men assembled around Sextus Tarquinius, draped in a red cloak and drawing up his hand in surprise. Like Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, Lucretia was seen as a symbol of virtue; not only in the episode shown here but also through her death for, not being able to bear the shame and sorrow of her rape, she later committed suicide.

This painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1781 and two years later Lagrenée exhibited a large drawing on blue paper: Salon 1783, no. 24: 'Les Tarquins adjugent à Lucrèce le prix de la vertu'. Although the subject is not exactly the same as that represented here, Sandoz suggests the drawing was preparatory or related to the painted composition.¹

1 See Sandoz, under Literature, p. 227, under no. 135, and p. 243, no. 170 (location unknown).