- 85
Attributed to Jean III Caravaque (1673-1754)
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 EUR
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Description
- Equestrian portrait of Philippe de France, Duke of Anjou (1683-1746), king of Spain, circa 1713-1715
- marble relief ; in a Louis XV carved and gilt wood frame
- relief : 76,5 x 46 cm, cadre : 99 x 65 cm; relief: 30 by 18 in.
Literature
J. Billioud, « Une dynastie d'artistes provençaux, les Garavaque », dans Marseille, 1958, n° 36, pp. 3-14 ; Pierre Puget. Peintre, sculpteur, architecte, 1620-1694, cat. exp. musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, 1994, pp. 340-343 ; G. Bresc-Bautier, « L'importation du marbre de Carrare à la cour de Louis XIV. Rivalité des marchands et échecs des compagnies », dans Bulletin du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles, symposium du 22-24 mai 2003 (en ligne).
Catalogue Note
The Caravaque or Garavaque famly had several generations of artists active between Toulon and Marseille. Louis (recognized 1640-1665) and his son Jean (recognized 1642-1675) who founded the Toulon dynasty, was lured, like Pierre Puget (1620-1694), by the royal arsenal shipyards. Incidentally, they collaborated several times with Puget on religious decors now disappeared.
François (death 1698), son of Jean, arrived in Paris in 1671 and obtained the second prize of sculpture at the Academy in 1674. Returned to Toulon, he joined the arsenal before settling in Marseille where he took the direction of the sculpture workshops of a second arsenal dedicated to the royal galleys. In 1694, he served as witness of Puget's last testament, attesting the intimacy existing between the two sculptors. In 1669, family ties were further reinforced when Jean-Baptiste (died 1709), François's half-brother, married a niece of Puget. Three sons were born, Louis (1681-1754) - painter at Peter the Great's court -, Joseph (1680-1758) inspector of carpentry of the arsenal and Jean III (1673-1754).
Grand-nephew of Puget, Jean III was appointed in 1709 head of the sculptures of the arsenal galleys in Marseille. He was also in charge of the inspection of marbles under Louis XIV for whom he carried out the last tracking mission in Carrara in 1713. Besides his activity as a wood carver at the arsenal, Jean III realized in 1697 the mausoleum in marble of Bishop Ludovic Habert de Montmort of Perpignan (Cathedral of Perpignan).
In the inventory after the death of François Caravaque is noted "... the low-relief in marble which is the king on horseback, "(cf. Billioud, op cit.). This relief signed F. Caravacque reappeared in New York, when Sotheby's auctioned the Keck collection (6 December 1991, lot 133). With dimensions similar to ours and of identical composition, it represents Louis XIV on horseback wearing an Antiquity cuirass, and holding the commander's baton of the chief of the armies. He is surmounted by the same group of putti with the first blowing the trumpet of Fame with a banner bearing France's coat of arms; the second holds a laurel crown above the monarch. François adapts, via a few variations, a composition initially elaborated by his friend Puget for his Louis XIV on horseback, formerly in the Boléry collection (Museum of Fine Arts, Marseille). Still from François, we can also mention a giltwood crest, made in 1694 for the royal galley, the Reale, representing the same winged Genius holding a medallion with France's coat of arms and blowing into the trumpet of Fame (French Naval Museum, inv. no 37 OA 5.5).
In 2001, the Louvre acquired a bust signed by Jean III Caravaque of Maria Luisa of Savoy, wife of Philip V. This portrait may date from 1701, during Maria Luisa’s trip to Marseilles for her wedding - at this occasion Jean III took part in the ephemeral decoration for the entry into Marseilles of Philip’s two brothers: Louis de France, Duke of Burgundy, and Charles de France, Duke of Berry (cf. J. Billioud, op. cit.) - or more probably from the end of the Succession War in Spain endorsing the legitimacy of Philip V. The physical resemblance of our dignitary with the King of Spain, the presence of France’s coat of arms, the previously mentioned portrait of his wife by Jean III, and the direct citation of the effigies of Louis XIV by Puget and François Caravaque align to attribute this relief to Jean III and dating of circa 1713. Following Louis XIV, triumphant Philip V in turn brandishes the commander’s baton as a passage of dynastic relay at the head of the power.
François (death 1698), son of Jean, arrived in Paris in 1671 and obtained the second prize of sculpture at the Academy in 1674. Returned to Toulon, he joined the arsenal before settling in Marseille where he took the direction of the sculpture workshops of a second arsenal dedicated to the royal galleys. In 1694, he served as witness of Puget's last testament, attesting the intimacy existing between the two sculptors. In 1669, family ties were further reinforced when Jean-Baptiste (died 1709), François's half-brother, married a niece of Puget. Three sons were born, Louis (1681-1754) - painter at Peter the Great's court -, Joseph (1680-1758) inspector of carpentry of the arsenal and Jean III (1673-1754).
Grand-nephew of Puget, Jean III was appointed in 1709 head of the sculptures of the arsenal galleys in Marseille. He was also in charge of the inspection of marbles under Louis XIV for whom he carried out the last tracking mission in Carrara in 1713. Besides his activity as a wood carver at the arsenal, Jean III realized in 1697 the mausoleum in marble of Bishop Ludovic Habert de Montmort of Perpignan (Cathedral of Perpignan).
In the inventory after the death of François Caravaque is noted "... the low-relief in marble which is the king on horseback, "(cf. Billioud, op cit.). This relief signed F. Caravacque reappeared in New York, when Sotheby's auctioned the Keck collection (6 December 1991, lot 133). With dimensions similar to ours and of identical composition, it represents Louis XIV on horseback wearing an Antiquity cuirass, and holding the commander's baton of the chief of the armies. He is surmounted by the same group of putti with the first blowing the trumpet of Fame with a banner bearing France's coat of arms; the second holds a laurel crown above the monarch. François adapts, via a few variations, a composition initially elaborated by his friend Puget for his Louis XIV on horseback, formerly in the Boléry collection (Museum of Fine Arts, Marseille). Still from François, we can also mention a giltwood crest, made in 1694 for the royal galley, the Reale, representing the same winged Genius holding a medallion with France's coat of arms and blowing into the trumpet of Fame (French Naval Museum, inv. no 37 OA 5.5).
In 2001, the Louvre acquired a bust signed by Jean III Caravaque of Maria Luisa of Savoy, wife of Philip V. This portrait may date from 1701, during Maria Luisa’s trip to Marseilles for her wedding - at this occasion Jean III took part in the ephemeral decoration for the entry into Marseilles of Philip’s two brothers: Louis de France, Duke of Burgundy, and Charles de France, Duke of Berry (cf. J. Billioud, op. cit.) - or more probably from the end of the Succession War in Spain endorsing the legitimacy of Philip V. The physical resemblance of our dignitary with the King of Spain, the presence of France’s coat of arms, the previously mentioned portrait of his wife by Jean III, and the direct citation of the effigies of Louis XIV by Puget and François Caravaque align to attribute this relief to Jean III and dating of circa 1713. Following Louis XIV, triumphant Philip V in turn brandishes the commander’s baton as a passage of dynastic relay at the head of the power.
RELATED LITERATURE
G. Bresc-Bautier, "Paroisse et Pénitents aux Revest-les-Eaux. L'espace religieux remodelé (1673-1681)", dans La Provence Historique, 2001, t. LI, fasc. 203, pp. 41-50; L. Georget, « La sculpture baroque à Marseille », dans Marseille, 2000, n° 192, pp. 55-60; J. Gaborit, G. Bresc-Bautier, Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Sculptures du musée du Louvres, 1996-2001, Paris, 2002, pp.43-44.