JOSEPH-MARIE VIEN (1716-1809), ATTRIBUE Lot n° 99

The suicide of Cleopatra Important oil on canvas. Provenance : The Marquis of Londonderry Dimensions : 99 x 136 cm Rare and important Neoclassical painting on the subject of the suicide of Queen Cleopatra inspired by classical models such as those by Guido Reni. The painting is treated with elegance releasing a naked body partly wrapped in white and orange draperies on the background of a celadon green veil closing the perspective by inserting a theatrical touch. The left arm is inert, we feel it heavy, no longer giving resistance, ready for its tragic fate. We also find a basket of fruit placed on the corner of a table in the foreground, painted in the shadow, which reminds us of Carravagesque painting. This foreground gives the direction to the eye of the spectator to go directly on the naked body receiving a source of light no longer Carravagesque but universal. These elements lead us to think that our Cleopatra could have been painted in Rome by a French artist, early in the Neo-classicism. French painter, draftsman and engraver, he is considered the father of Neo-Classicism. Son of a simple locksmith, Vien entered the Royal Academy School in Paris where he was taught by Charles-Joseph Natoire and Parrocel. He obtained a first medal in 1742 and the following year he was awarded the Prix de Rome. He stayed five years in Italy, developing a very important and diverse activity. He returned to France in 1750, strongly influenced by ancient sculpture and the masters of the Renaissance. From the moment he entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1754, thanks to the intervention of Boucher, also protected by the Count of Caylus, he became a fashionable painter. He created a workshop where he trained many disciples to his theories, including Jacques Louis David. He was director of the French Academy in Rome from 1775 to 1781 and became the first painter to the king in 1789.