Nicolas Régnier

The following condition report is provided by Rebecca Gregg who is an external expert and not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas support is in a stable condition, there is a seam running horizontally across c.24cm from the lower edge, the appearance of which could be improved by a new lining. There are minor planar deformations above the figure's head and along the left and right stretcher bar marks. The overall tension is slightly slack. The paint layers appear in relatively good condition, the thickly applied paint layers have a strong impasto texture and while the overall adhesion between the paint, the ground layers and the support appears good, there is a small area of raised flaking paint in the upper left quadrant. There are areas of over-paint present on the figure's hands, scattered throughout the lighter areas of the composition and a small retouched loss on the face. There is over-paint covering what appears to be a revealed pentiment on the sitter's chest, the costume appears to have been changed, with the neckline being significantly dropped. There is evidence that the painting has been partially cleaned, the discoloured natural resin varnish is significantly darker and more degraded over the darker areas of the background while the lighter elements have been more comprehensively cleaned. There are minor scuff marks along the lower edge of the painting and a small scratch in the lower left corner; these appear to only affect the varnish layers. There is a significant layer of surface dirt and fly spotting present. The painting was examined in the frame.
"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."

Though it has been little discussed, until Annick Lemoine's recent monograph on the artist (2007), Régnier's activity as a still-life painter is evident throughout his œuvre, both in paintings he executed in Rome as well as in Venice. His interest in still life may have begun with his apprenticeship with the Flemish painter Abraham Janssens in Antwerp but must also have been strongly influenced by his coming into contact with Caravaggio in Rome.¹  Like Caravaggio, Régnier's still lifes tend to examine objects front-on and his representation is concentrated on light and form rather than the descriptive detail more typical of northern still lifes. Though no 'pure' still lifes by Régnier are known to date, it is fair to argue – as Lemoine suggests – that the artist paid as much attention to his still-life elements as he did to the figures in his compositions; and this painting provides a perfect example of this. The convincing portrayal of contrasting textures here gives context to the young woman's look of concentration and her simple gesture of pouring wine from a pitcher into a wide-rimmed glass. The golden crust of the bread-roll contrasts with the shine of the black grapes beside it, and the apples and pear (the latter with bruised skin) are realistically reflected in the silver platter that they are arranged on. The white cloth on which the still life sits hangs down loosely and the knife casts a naturalistic shadow upon the rock, whilst also serving as a motif to draw the beholder into the picture. As Lemoine has remarked: "La maîtrise de la perspective, le rendu rapide des formes, ou encore le jeu de la lumière contrastée, renforcent le réalisme de ses natures mortes et, du même coup, leur pouvoir illusionniste".²  Rarely does Régnier achieve the refinement of the still life in the present work: the only comparison may be found in the objects resting on the table in his Supper at Emmaus, painted for the Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani in Rome and today in the Bildergalerie at Sanßouci, Potsdam.³

Régnier is mentioned for the last time in Rome in March 1625 and the following year he is recorded in Venice, where he is known to have remained until his death in 1667. The importance given over to the still life in this painting might suggest a date of execution during Régnier's Roman period, that is some time in the first half of the 1620s, but the female type of the young woman seems to sit better alongside the youthful works painted by the artist in Venice. It may be compared, in particular, to his overdoors showing an Allegory of Wisdom and an Allegory of Vanity in the Palazzo Reale, Turin, the former of which is signed, inscribed and dated on the cartellino: "fatto a Venezia il 6 Giunio 1626 per segno della verità. Scritto di mio pugno N. Renieri".⁴

1.  Though undocumented, it is thought that Régnier was apprenticed to Janssens in circa 1610-15. Gianni Papi hypothesises that Régnier may have been in Rome as early as 1610 but Annick Lemoine convincingly argues for a later sojourn, towards the end of the second decade of the 17th century.
2.  "His mastery of perspective, the fluid rendition of form, as well as contrasting light and shade, underline both the realism of his still lifes and their power of illusion": A. Lemoine, Nicolas Régnier (alias Niccolò Renieri) ca. 1588-1667, Paris 2007, p. 43.
3.  Lemoine, op. cit., p. 236, cat. no. 33, reproduced in colour on p. 77 and a detail on p. 43. Régnier's association with Giustiniani began in 1621-22 and nine paintings by him are mentioned in the posthumous inventory of the Marchese's palazzo in 1638.
4.  Lemoine, ibid., pp. 251-54, cat. nos. 54 and 55, reproduced in colour on p. 125.