Attribution: Le Nain, Louis (Laon, 1588 - Paris (75), May 23, 1648) (Painter)
Previous attribution: Le Nain, Antoine (Laon, 1593 - Paris (75), May 25, 1648) (Painter)
Previous attribution: Le Nain, Mathieu (Laon, 1607 - Paris (75), April 20, 1677) (Painter)
Bacchus and Ariadne
Bacchus and Ariadne
Realization : 1635
Area: Painting
Technique(s): Canvas (oil painting)
Dimensions : H. 102 cm ; W. 152 cm
Inventory no.: 70.4.1
Photo credit(s) :
Camus, Christophe
Lauginie, François
Cartel
Rediscovered only in 1954, Bacchus et Ariane by the Le Nain brothers has revolutionized our knowledge of these Paris painters, more famous for their peasant scenes than for their mythological paintings (only three are known). The work is almost a "unicum" in the production of the Le Nain brothers, as much for its iconography as for its precious style tinged with Mannerist reminiscences. The debate is still open as to which of the brothers should be credited with the painting: specialists recognize the brushwork of Louis, and even more so of Matthieu, but the disparities in the rendering of certain details argue in favor of a multi-handed execution. On the island of Naxos, Bacchus, god of wine, discovers the sleeping princess Ariadne, abandoned by the hero Theseus, whom she had helped through the Minotaur's labyrinth. As he sets sail from his ship, the god freezes in awe of Ariadne's beauty. The subject of the painting was probably inspired by Blaise de Vigenère's collection of Images ou tableaux de platte peinture, based on an account by the Greek historian Philostratus. This work was published in several illustrated editions between 1614 and 1637, using plates engraved by Antoine Caron and his entourage. The painting shows the diversity of sources of inspiration available to Le Nain in 1630s Paris: the mood of the scene evokes engravings by Laurent de La Hyre and Ariane the female figures of Orazio Gentileschi, who was in Paris in 1624 - 1625. The robust sailors, visible in the foreground, are inspired by Primaticcio's fresco of Ulysses landing on the shore of the underworld in the Galerie d'Ulysse at the Château de Fontainebleau, making this painting a late example of the Bellifontain legacy among French painters of the Grand Siècle.
Provenance
Painting discovered by an antique dealer in Château-Thierry, circa 1954.
Purchased by François Heim, circa 1954.
Paris, galerie François Heim [presented as Theseus abandoning Ariadne],1954-1964.
Purchased from Galerie l'Œil (Paris) by the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans using war damage funds, 1970.
School
France
Location
Museum of Fine Arts
2nd floor
Room: France in the Great Century