Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Raymond-Joseph-Antoine Balze (a gift from the artist)
Baron Joseph Raphaël Vitta, Lyon and Paris (and sold: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Catalogue des tableaux modernes, aquarelles et dessins... provenant de la Collection Baron Joseph Raphaël Vitta, June 27-28, 1924, lot 56)
M. Gradt (acquired at the above sale)
Joseph Hotermans, Paris (until 1968)
Private Collection

Paris, Palais de l'École Impériale des Beaux-Arts, Catalogue des tableaux, études peints, dessins et croquis de J.-A.-D. Ingres, 1867, no. 1
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Ingres (1780-1867), February 24-May 15, 2006, no 138

Henri Delaborde, Ingres, sa vie, ses traveaux, sa doctrine, d'après les notes manuscrites et les lettres du maître, Paris, 1870, p. 181, no. 10
Charles Gounod, Mémoirs d'un artiste, Paris, 1896, pp. 110-2
Henry Lapauze, Les Dessins de J.A.D. Ingres du musée de Montauban, Paris, 1901 text volume, p. 148 and note 1; no. 149 (as 1827)
Jules Momméja, Ingres: biographie critique, Paris, n.d. (1903), p. 101
Jules Momméja, Collection Ingres au musée de Montauban, Paris, 1905, p. 80
Louis Flandrin, "Deux disciples d'Ingres: Paul et Raymond Balze," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, VI, no. 650, August, 1911, p. 154
Georges Wildenstein, Ingres, New York, 1954, p. 211, no. 229, illustrated fig. 144
Georges Wildenstein, Ingres (2nd, revised edition), London, 1956, p. 190, no. 133, illustrated  p. 190, fig. 79
Hans Naef, "Portrait Drawings by Ingres in the Art Institute of Chicago," Museum Studies (Art Institute of Chicago), no. 1, 1966, p. 71
Ingres, exh. cat., Petit Palais, Paris, 1967-1968. p. 320, cited under no. 249
Emilio Radius and Ettore Camesasca, L'Opera completa di Ingres, Milan, 1968, pp. 107-8, no. 129a. illustrated p. 106
Daniel Ternois and Ettore Camesasca, Tout l'oeuvre peint d'Ingres, Paris, 1971, p. 108, no. 130a, illustrated p. 106
Daniel Ternois, Ingres (French ed.), Milan, 1980, p. 183, no. 242, illustrated
Patricia Condon, In pursuit of Perfection: The Art of J.-A.-D. Ingres, exh. cat, The J.B. Speed Art Museum, and traveling, Louisville, Kentucky, 1983-1984, p. 136, 245
Edgar Munhall, Ingres and the Comtesse d'Haussonville, exh. cat., The Frick Collection, New York, 1985-1986, p. 56
W.M. Brady & Co., Inc., Old Master Drawings, New York, 1990, n.p., cited under no. 31
Annalisa Zanni, Ingres: catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence, 1990, p. 149
Georges Vigne, assisted by Éric Moinet Montauban, Papiers d'Ingres: Vierges folles et vierges sages, exh. cat., Musée Ingres and Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1992-1993, p. 2, 4, cited under no. 11; 20, note 3
Georges Vigne, Dessins d'Ingres: catalogue raisonné des dessins du musée de Montauban, Paris, 1995, p. 58-9, illustrated p. 59 (for studies of the Christ Child)
Georges Vigne, Ingres, Paris, 1995, p. 228, 230, 335

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is originally painted on what appears to be numerous joined pieces of canvas. There is a square of canvas encompassing the hands and head of the Madonna. It seems the top of the oval, the two sides of the work and the rectangle in which the baby sleeps are separate pieces of canvas. It is known that Ingres did “build” paintings in this way, joining pieces of canvas as he worked through compositions. This work is very thinly painted, and the artist limited his palette and tonality quite strongly. However, regardless of his light touch and lack of real definition, the paint layer does seem to be quite noticeably abraded. Unfortunately, the retouches that have been added have discolored, giving the picture a rather milky hue, particularly in the darker colors of the background. This discoloration of the retouches does affect the image. There is no question that retouches will be required throughout if the work is cleaned. Although this will be a significant endeavor, the results should be impressive. This work by Ingres certainly is not well represented at present. The most consistent area of paint loss seems to be in the linen beneath the head of the Child. It is more than likely that this entire area is actually unpainted and simply a gessoed canvas surface, which has probably become worn over time. The retouches here seem to serve two purposes, one to eliminate signs of abrasion and secondly perhaps to create a more complete and full paint layer. If the restoration is reexamined, some effort might be made towards returning the picture to a large scale oil sketch, rather than the “completed” painting which has been attempted here.
"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."

On a visit to Rome in 1839, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich (the future Czar Alexander II) commissioned from Ingres the devotional painting known as The Virgin with the Host (fig. 1, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow). By August 1840, the artist could report that he was well on his way to completing the composition, as well as two other major works: a version of the Portrait of Cherubini and the Muse of Lyric Poetry (Musée du Louvre, Paris). The Virgin with the Host was completed in 1841, after which it was sent to St. Petersburg where it would appear to have incurred the displeasure of the Czarevich, who had it deposited in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in that city.

When featured in the Ingres retrospective held in Paris soon after the artist's death, the present work was described as the première pensée for The Virgin with the Host. Mary's Raphaelesque pose and hieratic expression are virtually identical in both works, as are the forms of her ample drapery. They clearly derive from Ingres' seminal Vow of Louis XIII (Cathédrale de Notre-Dame, Montauban; Wildenstein no. 155), which, when shown at the Salon of 1824, earned the artist almost overnight fame. Yet, early on, Ingres appears to have abandoned the present work, presumably for iconographic reasons. Thus, in place of the Christ Child, in the final work he substituted the Eucharist, thereby imparting a more mystical aura to that composition and providing a more austere, geometric design. Nothing suggests, however, that he was in any way dissatisfied with the painting's formal qualities. Ingres' belief in the primacy of drawing is evident throughout the present work, notably in the revised placement of the Christ Child's right forearm.

It is obvious that the painting under discussion, whose dimensions are very close to those of The Virgin with the Host, was originally meant to be carried to completion. It is therefore erroneous to treat it as a première pensée for Grand Duke Alexander's painting. Its accomplished technique alone refutes this classification. It was simply abandoned mid-stream.