Physical description
A draped young woman seen from the profile, is striking the head of a greyhound with one hand while a putto reaches across her lap toward the dog; another putto, reclining on a cloud, holds keys in both hands.
Place of Origin
Paris, France
Date
ca. 1730 (painted)
Artist/maker
Cazes, Perre Jacques, born 1676 - died 1754 (attributed to, painter (artist))
Materials and Techniques
Oil on canvas
Marks and inscriptions
'Sebastian Conca pinxit 1700' 'Sebastiano Conca painted [this] 1700'
Dimensions
Height: 31.8 cm approx., Width: 40 cm approx.
Object history note
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, 1868.
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix.
'Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was born into a wealthy family, only son of Henry Hare Townsend of Busbridge Hall, Godalming, Surrey. Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1821). Succeeded to the family estates 1827, when he added 'h' to the Townsend name. He had taken holy orders, but while he always referred to himself as 'Rev.' on the title pages of his books, he never practised his vocation... . Very much a dilettante in the eighteenth-century sense, he moved in the highest social and literary circles; a great friend of Charles Dickens (he was the dedicatee of Great Expectations) with whom he shared a fascination of mesmerism... Bulwer Lytton described his life's 'Beau-deal of happiness' as 'elegant rest, travel, lots of money - and he is always ill and melancholy'. Of the many watercolours and British and continental oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A, the majority are landscapes. He is the first identifiable British collector of early photographs apart from the Prince Consort, particularly landscape photography, and also collected gems and geological specimens.'
Historical significance: Formerly attributed to the Rome-based painter Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764), this painting appears to be a fine example of Cazes' output, which ranges from large religious compositions and history paintings to delightful genre scenes (A. Schnapper, written communication, 1971).
It depicts an allegorical scene that E.H. Gombrich (1956) identified as an allegory of fidelity, which traditional attributes are a woman dressed in white, a dog and keys. This iconography is described in Ripa's Iconologia (1603) which appears to be the main iconographical source in Western art from the 17th century onwards.
This painting appears quite typical of Cazes' mythological compositions such as Venus and Cupid, Crocker Art Museum, California (1872.174) in which he similarly played with subtle lights and shade and inserted fluttering putti among clouds while greyhounds also recurs frequently ijn his oeuvre (see The swing, Louvre, Paris). This stylistic consistency was apparently already noticed by his contemporaries as Mariette wrote that Cazes 'composed with ease and gracefully, but always in the same manner, so that if one has seen one of his pictures, one has seen them all'.
This painting was originally oval in format and squared later on, which suggests that it probably belonged to a cycle of decorative panel depicting various allegories. Because of his relatively small size, 1346-1869 may have been a sketch for a larger painting, possibly for a ceiling while radiography in 1956 revealed another painting beneath it.
Historical context note
History painting, i.e. depictions of non recurring events based on religious, classical, literary or allegorical sources, particularly developed in Italy during the Renaissance (15th-16th centuries). History painting could include religious themes, or depictions of momentous recent events, but the term was most frequently associated with Classical subject-matter. However a renewed impetus was given to religious subjects after the Council of Trent (1545-63), which stipulated new iconographical programmes. The development of art treatises, in which the compositional rules guiding the art of painting were discussed also notably, influenced the evolution of history painting. From around 1600 history painting's principal rivals: still-life, landscape and genre painting began to emerge as independent collectable genres. Furthermore, the Rococo taste for the ornamental in the early 18th century prioritised the decorative quality of history painting, so that subject matters became more entertaining than exemplary. There was a renewed interest in history painting during the Neo-Classical period after which the taste for such pictures faded towards the end of the 19th century when an innovative approach to the image was led by the Symbolists and was developed further by subsequent schools in the early 20th century.
Descriptive line
Oil Painting, 'An Allegory', attributed to Pierre Jacques Cazes, ca. 1730
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 66-67, cat. no. 64
The following is the full text of the entry:
"Pierre Jacques CAZES (1676-1754)
French School
Born in Paris, where he was a pupil of R. A. Houasse and Bon Boullogne, he won the Prix de Rome in 1699 and became a member of the Académie in 1703. He painted mythological and religious subjects for Louris XV at Versailles and in the Tuileries and became director of the Académie in 1744. Apart from his own very successful career, he is known as Chardin's first teacher.
Ascribed to Pierre Jacques CAZES
64
AN ALLEGORY: (?) FIDELITY (A WOMAN
WITH A DOG AND TWO PUTTI)
Canvas
12 1/2 x 15 3/4 (31.8 x 40)
Townshend Bequest
1346-1869
A label on the back inscribed 'Sebastian Conca pinxit 1700' accounts for the early attribution to Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764) (1893 Catalogue,p. 177). While on loan at the N. G. from 1895 until 1960 it was catalogued as ascribed to Conca. However, it does not appear to have been discussed anywhere in the literature on Conca, and Sergio Ortolani (written communication, 1939) described it as 'close to Conca, but more Roman in style'. Recently, Antoine Schnapper (forthcoming) has more plausibly attributed it to Cazes.
1346-1869 was entitled Cupid with the keys until Michael Levey (1956) pointed out that the subject appears to be an allegory for which the dog and the keys are the chief clues. E. H. Gombrich (see Levey, 1956) suggested Fidelity,who is represented in Ripa's Iconologia (1630, p. 245) as a standing woman holding a key and seal with a dog at her side. Ripa explains that the sealing ring is to seal and hide secrets, while the dog is always faithful. Although the sealing ring does not figure in 1346-1869, Fidelity remains the likeliest identification of the subject. A painting of Love jealous of Fidelity attributed to Sebastiano Ricci (Bordeaux Museum, no. 56), while not similar in detail, contains the same ingredients and provides a possible clue to the presence of the putti.The other possible interpretations suggested by Levey, that it might be an interpretation of the Church, the dog symbolizing Faith, or a Dominican allegory, the dog being one of the symbols of St Dominic, seem less plausible. In any case 1346-1869 would seem to be a sketch for a large painting. As it was originally oval, Levey (1956) suggests that this was for a ceiling.
Condition.Worn and retouched. Radiograph in 1956 revealed that another painting perhaps Neapolitan 17th century, was underneath. Originally oval in shape, the corners are later additions.
Prov.The Rev. C. H. Townshend; bequeathed to the Museum in 1868.
Lit.
M. Levey, The 18th century Italian Schools,The National Gallery,London: 1956, p. 42 f.
Production Note
Originally attributed to Sebastiano Conca (because of a label on the back which reads 'Sebastian Conca pinxit 1700'), Antoine Schnapper has reattributed it to Cazes.
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Woman; Dog; Putti; Clouds; Allegory; Keys
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
