Ceres or Summer

Since its opening in 1825, the museum has been enriched by a particularly large number of donations from the people of Orléans. At the same time, an acquisition policy targeting rare works enabled the museum to bring in great masterpieces such as Velazquez's Saint Thomas in 1837 and Pompeo Batoni's Vulcan acquired in 1853 at the sale of the Romantic portraitist and lithographer Henri Grevedon. A brilliant artist, an immense portraitist and one of the most important history painters of 18th century Italy, Batoni is rare in French collections. Only the Louvre, Versailles, Dijon, Brest and Orléans share less than ten paintings, with much of his work held in England and, of course, Italy.

Initially considered an isolated work, this Vulcan was also envisaged as part of a series of four seasons, although no other works of the same dimensions could be found to prove this theory. Identification was made difficult by an earlier restoration that had reduced the format, leaving only a few millimeters of an oculus that once created an architectural form around the painting, visible today beneath the frame. The reappearance on the art market of two figures of the same size, with a similar structure (complete this time) and the same "Battoni" annotation has led to the realization that these were two other paintings in this series of four, probably separated at the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century. The Orleans painting has been reunited with two of its companions.

Extremely rare in Batoni's work, these heads would have been inserted into a high décor, either painted or architectural, using an optical process designed to accentuate the relief of the figures. The refinement of the palette and the elegance of the poses of the three gods mean that the Four Seasons (from which Spring, probably Flora, is missing) can be dated to the painter's maturity, around 1770-1780, when he was producing almost exclusively portraits sought after by the greatest 18th-century connoisseurs.

The bringing together of several paintings in a series is a historic moment in the history of a collection. This was made possible thanks to the efforts of the Galerie Canesso in Paris, the Fonds du Patrimoine reserved for large-scale acquisitions, and Mme Guillaux, who bequeathed a sum of money for major acquisitions. All that remains now is to find Flora, or Spring ! These three paintings have proved that museum collections have time on their side. Perhaps in a century and a half, Flora will reappear to complete a cycle that has remained scattered for too long.