Louis Laguerre (1663-1721) was born in Paris and studied with the Jesuits before enrolling at the Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture. He worked with Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) before moving to England in 1683-84 and spent there the rest of his life. He specialised in decorative scheme in the Baroque manner, working for some time with Antonio Verrio (ca. 1639-1707), and achieved a great success as a decorator.
This painting is an oil sketch, i.e. a preparatory study, for a large decorative scheme depicted in Kiveton House, Yorkshire, around 1702-1703. It shows Psyche being dressed and crowned by the gods on Mount Olympus in preparation for her marriage to Cupid, God of Love. This composition is characteristic of the Baroque manner which favoured some theatrical grandeur in the composition.
Physical description
A crowd of semi-nude figures aloft among clouds with a female figure in the centre being dressed and crowned.
Place of Origin
Kiveton House , Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date
1702-1703 (painted)
Artist/maker
Laguerre, Louis, born 1663 - died 1721 (painter (artist))
Materials and Techniques
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 21.5 in approx., Width: 25.5 in approx., Height: 670 mm Frame, Width: 775 mm Frame, Depth: 52 mm Frame
Object history note
Purchased, 1956
Historical significance: This painting is an oil sketch intended as a preparatory study for the decoration of the ceiling of the staircase in Kiveton House, Yorkshire. Laguerre was indeed commissioned by Thomas Osbourne, 1st Duke of Leeds, in 1702-1703 the decoration of the whole staircase of the house including the walls and ceiling whereas the hall was painted by Sir James Thornhill who benefited greatly from Laguerre's influence. The house was demolished in 1811 and until the 1950s nothing was known of the character of the internal decoration.
The present sketch shows the marriage of Cupid and Psyche on the Mount Olympus, surrounded by a crowd of gods and goddesses of the ancient Roman religion. This scene draws on the homonym tale of the ancient Roman author Ovid who narrated the story of the difficult love and separation between Cupid, God of Love and Psyche, about to become the goddess of the Soul. The present sketch shows the final act of the story when Cupid and Psyche are finally reunited after many adventures on the Mount Olympus where their marriage is celebrated.
The story of Cupid and Psyche was chosen as the main subject matter for the decoration of the whole staircase. Another preparatory study in pen and wash for the ceiling decoration is in the Duke of Leeds collection, Yorkshire Archeological Society, Leeds.
The art of Louis Laguerre is a good example of the diffusion of the continental Baroque art in England, together with the Italian artist Antonio Verrio (ca. 1639-1707), of whom the museum also owns important oil sketches (see P.2-1956 and E.1085-1916). The museum probably acquired this piece as a good example of Baroque decorative art fashionable in Great Britain during the beginning of the 18th century.
Historical context note
An oil sketch is a type of painted work of small dimensions that first appeared in the 16th century. It derives from the Renaissance practice of preparatory drawings in pen and ink and is generally executed as a preparatory study in mixed oil and tempera for a finished larger work as an alternative to drawings. The finish of these studies, often called modello, can be more or less refined. The earliest known oil sketches are by Polidoro da Caravaggio (ca. 1497-ca. 1543) but the technique spread quickly among the artists including Federico Barocci (1528-1612), Cristofano Allori (1577-1621), Tintoretto (1519-1594 ) and Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664 ) and became an important feature of the Baroque art. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) for example is one of the greatest examples of Baroque artists' use of the oil sketch and contributed to introduce its practice in Flanders. This method benefits to both artists and patrons as not only the artists were able to present and promote their work through these support but the patrons could also request an oil sketch to evaluate a project at an early stage. Sometimes considered as a works of art in se, oil sketches were also offered by the artists to connoisseurs. Oil sketches were still favoured during the Rococo and the Romantic period but at the end of the 19th century, the artists tent to paint more and more directly on the support, abandoning thus gradually the oil sketch in its function as a preparatory study.
Descriptive line
Oil sketch, 'Psyche Being Dressed by the Gods for her Marriage with Cupid' (sketch for the staircase's ceiling at Kiveton House), Louis Laguerre, 1702-1703
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Vertue, G. 'Notebooks: II', Walpole Society, X, 1931-1932, p.36.
Croft-Murray, E. Decorative Painting in England 1537-1837, London: Country Life Limited London, 1962, p.252, no.11.
Lynton, N. 'Laguerre at Kiverton'. Burlington Magazine, vol.98, No.639, June 1956, pp.204-7.
Daniels, J. 'English Baroque Sketches at Marble Hill'. The Burlington Magazine, vol. 116, No.856, July 1974, pp.420-22.
Exhibition History
British Paintings 1660-1840 (City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham 01/01/1975-31/12/1975)
Sketches for English Baroque Interiors - The painted Interior in the Age of Thornhill (Marble Hill House 01/01/1974-31/12/1974)
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Clouds; Mythology; Psyche; Gods; Mount Olympus
Categories
Paintings; Myths & Legends
Collection code
PDP
