Lubin Baugin

Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun;
His sale, Paris, Balbastre, 29 September 1806, lot 104, for 170 Fr.francs to Henry;
Bon-Thomas Henry (1766-1836), Cherbourg;
Anonymous sale, Belfort, Gauthier, 24 June 2000, lot 1 (as attributed to Lubin Baugin).

Toulouse, Musée des Augustins, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Toulouse, Lubin Baugin, 8 June - 9 September 2002, no. 91.

Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot, no. 26, 30 June 2000, p. 57, reproduced (as attributed to Baugin);
J. Thuillier in, Lubin Baugin, exhibition catalogue, Orléans and Toulouse 2002, pp. 234-236, reproduced (as by Baugin);
S. Laveissière, "Lubin Baugin, peintre parisien," in Dossier de L'Art, No. 84, March 2002, p. 43, reproduced (as by Baugin);
A. Brejon de Lavergnée, "Orléans and Toulouse, Lubin Baugin," in The Burlington Magazine, June 2002, pp. 376 and 377 (as by Baugin).

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 work has not been recently cleaned. Originally, this was painted on an ovoid canvas. Additions were made to bring this shape into a rectangle. The additions are clearly visible; the joins are raised and although restored, still quite visible. The figures themselves are in beautiful state, showing absolutely no abrasion or damage. The same can be said for the sky around the figures and the pyre beneath their feet. Cleaning the work is certainly an option. Whether one returns this work to an ovoid is a matter for discussion. However, the lower part of the ovoid may have been later abbreviated in order to place the figures more centrally in the composition.
"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."

This striking painting by Baugin was rediscovered when it came to auction in France in the year 2000 (see Provenance).  Olindo and Sofronia is a rare profane subject by the artist, whose body of known work consists almost entirely of religious themes.¹  It can be identified as the painting that was in the collection of the dealer, Lebrun, and sold in his auction in Paris in 1806 where it is described in the sale catalogue:  Lubin Beaugin. Le Supplice d’Olinde & Sophronie, sujet tiré de la Jérusalem délivrée du Tasse, proportion demi-nature. Tableau d’un style elegant. Hauteur 60 pouces, largeur 39, de forme ovale. T[oile].  The dimensions correspond and the outlines of the original oval format of the present work can still be clearly seen.  Jacques Thuillier (see Literature), who considers this painting a late work by the artist, speculates that the original oval format may indicate that it was meant to be part of a decorative scheme in a room or gallery, perhaps with different subjects taken from Tasso, where it would have been set into a decorative plaster surround.

The story of Olindo and Sofronia is told in Torquato Tasso’s (1544-95) great epic poem, Gerusalemme Liberata (1581), set during the First Crusade and the Christian capture of Jerusalem.  Tasso’s poem was a favorite source of subject matter for artists who found in its combination of chivalric romance and Christian themes  a wealth of new and exotic  iconography that could be both inspirational and erotic.²  In the episode involving Olindo and Sofronia (Canto 2), an image of the Virgin Mary is taken by Aladine, the pagan ruler of Jerusalem.  When the image mysteriously disappears, he threatens to kill all the Christians in the city unless it is returned.  Sofronia, a beautiful and pious Christian maiden, falsely confesses to having taken the image in an effort to avert the massacre.  When Aladine asks where the image is, Sofronia claims he will never find it as she has destroyed it.  Enraged, the king condemns her to be burned alive.  When Olindo, a young man who has always loved Sofronia but never had the courage to tell her, hears what has happened, he tells the king that he is the one who stole the image and that Sofronia is innocent.  Aladine condemns them both and they are tied, back to back, on the pyre.  As they prepare to die, Olindo professes his love to Sofronia.  Just in time, the Saracen warrior-maiden, Clorinda, arrives and, taking pity on the pair, offers to fight in Aladine’s army if he will release them.  He agrees, whereupon Olindo and Sofronia are set free and immediately married.

Baugin has chosen the moment when the lovers are bound together awaiting their fate.  He strips away all other elements of the story, focusing solely on the extraordinary image of the two semi-nude figures of Olindo and Sofronia, back to back (which is specifically described in Tasso’s text), with hands tied above their heads.  Sofronia raises her head towards heaven while Olindo’s is bowed in sorrow, knowing that his love will never be fulfilled.  Other artists, such as Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti and François Perrier treated this subject, but all include numerous other figures from the story and usually depict the moment when Clorinda arrives on the scene.  The power of Baugin’s almost surreal image derives from its utter starkness, which allows the viewer to focus completely on the beautifully rendered bodies and draperies of the two figures.

Note on the provenance:
At the 1806 auction, Olindo and Sofronia was purchased by the French dealer, museum official, collector and painter Bon-Thomas Henry (1766-1836).  In 1816 he was appointed Commissaire-expert des Musées Royaux, a post that he held until his death.  He amassed his own large and eclectic collection which included mostly works by Italian, French and Flemish artists from the early Renaissance to the early 19^th century.  In 1834, Henry gave a large part of his collection to his native town of Cherbourg, which opened a museum in 1835; it eventually became known as the Musée Thomas-Henry.   After his death, the remainder of his collection was sold at auction in Paris on 23-25 May 1836.  Olinda and Sofronia was not included in that sale and it is not known how the painting left Henry’s collection.

 

1. Two other paintings with profane subjects are the Childhood of Jupiter in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes, and the Rape of Helen in the Musée Magnin, Dijon.
2. See S. O’Connell in A Taste for Angels, exhibition catalogue, New Haven 1987, p. 229.