Physical description
Henry IV is crawling on hands and knees on the floor with his son on his back; on the left, the ambassador looks in surprise.
Place of Origin
Rome, Italy (possibly, painted)
Date
before 1817 (painted)
Artist/maker
Ingres, born 1780 - died 1867 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on canvas
Marks and inscriptions
'Ingres'
Dimensions
Height: 50.5 cm estimate, Width: 62.3 cm estimate
Object history note
According to Delaborde, given by Ingres to Dominique Papéty, pensionnaire of the Académie de France in Rome; before 1870 coll. M. Delareyberette, Duc de Morny; before 1876 coll. M. Meyer; from whom perhaps purchased (stock book entry difficult to read - perhaps 'Duger' or 'Meyer'?) on 21 November 1881 as Ingres 'Henri IV et l'ambassadeur d'Angleterre' by Goupil & Co., Paris (stock book no. 15785); from whom bought by Constantine Alexander Ionides, 21 November 1881; listed in his inventory (private collection) on 21 November 1881 as 'Oil sketch. Henri IV receiving an ambassador. by Ingres. Goupil' at a valuation of £280; bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides to the Museum in 1900.
Historical significance: According to Ingres’ early biographer, Henri Delaborde, this painting was a preparatory study (‘première pensée’) for the finished version, executed in 1817, for the Duc de Blacas (Musée du Petit Palais, Paris – Inv. 1164) and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1824 and at the Exposition universelle in 1855. CAI.58 was most likely the earliest of a series of four and was left unfinished. Of the four versions, the V&A painting is the most distinctive one with only a few figures whereas the other versions included more children and the Queen and a very different interior.
It depicts the king Henry IV playing a horse with his son, the Dauphin, on his back and surprised in such posture by the Spanish Ambassador. The subject is taken from an anecdote related in the Mémorial pittoresque de la France (1786). The king, being discovered, asked the Ambassador if he were a father and on receiving an affirmative reply, observed quietly: ‘Then I shall finish my round’.
This painting is a fine example of the so-called ‘goût troubadour’, an aesthetic movement that aimed to renew the classical tradition by focusing of subject matters drawn from the Middle Age and the history of France. Ingres painted other two versions of the subject in addition to the ones mentioned above: one, dated 1828, was formerly in Alphonse de Rothschild collection, Paris, while another belonged to Mme Ingres (Wildenstein, no. 62).
It was a popular subject treated by several artists in the 19th century, including Pierre Revoil (1776-1842), in the Musée National du Château de Pau, dated 1813, and Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828), in the Wallace Collection, London, dated c. 1827.
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, 'Henri IV, the Dauphin and the Spanish Ambassador: a Sketch', Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, before 1817
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
'The Constantine Alexander Ionides Bequest. article 2, Ingres, Delacroix, Daumier and Degas', The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 5, n. 18 (Sept 1904), p. 529.
'unsatisfactory piece of genre which would make him to rank hardly higher than Isabey'
B.S. Long, Catalogue of the Constantine Alexander Ionides collection. Vol. 1, Paintings in oil, tempera and water-colour, together with certain of the drawings, London, 1925, no.58 p. 29.
Wildenstein, G., Ingres, 2nd ed. London, 1956, no. 114, fig. 63.
Catalogue raisonné.
Delaborde, H., Ingres. Sa vie, ses travaux, sa doctrine, Paris, 1870, p. 230, n. 64.
Monkhouse, Cosmo, Magazine of Art, 1884, p. 39.
Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, II. 1800-1900, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, pp. 52-53, cat. no. 113.
The following is the full text of the entry:
Jean Auguste Dominique INGRES (1780-1867)
French School
Born at Montauban, he studied at Toulouse and then in Paris under David. He won the Prix de Rome in 1801, but was unable to proceed to Rome until 1806. He then lived in Rome until 1820, and in Florence 1820-24. On his return to Paris he received the Cross of the Legion of Honour from Charles X and was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1835-41 he was again in Rome, as director of the French school. He was made a senator in 1862. Ingres painted portraits and historical, mythological, allegorical and religious subjects; he excelled as a draughtsman.
113
HENRI IV, THE DAUPHIN AND THE SPANISH AMBASSADOR: A SKETCH Signed lower left Ingres
Canvas
19 7/8 x 24 ½ (50.5 x 62.3)
Ionides Bequest
CAI.58
The King, being discovered playing as a horse for his children, asked the ambassador if he were a father, and on receiving an affirmative reply, observed quietly, 'Then I shall finish my round.'
This is one of four recorded versions: (1) Whereabouts unknown; painted for the Comte de Blacas, French Ambassador in Rome, and dated 1817 (Delaborde, no. 63; Wildenstein, no. 113, fig. 61); (2) private collection, Paris; Ingres sale, 27 April 1867, no. 9 (Delaborde, no. 66; Wildenstein, no. 115, fig. 62); (3) Whereabouts unknown, formerly Baron Alphonse de Rothschild collection; a replica of (1), dated 1828 (Delaborde, no. 65; Wildenstein, no. 204).
These differ considerably from CAI.58. They show Marie de Médicis seated in the middle of the composition and include four children instead of only one. CAI.58 is clearly a sketch. Perspective guidelines are visible on the floor and there are indications that the artist changed the composition in several places. A shadowy figure on the extreme left is partially visible behind the door, and the door itself appears to have been moved from its original position.
It differs too greatly from the finished version, Wildenstein, no. 113, to be called a sketch for it, but Delaborde's description of it as a 'première pensée' would seem acceptable. As the finished version is dated 1817, a date ca. 1816-17 may be proposed for CAI.58. The drawings in the Musée Ingres at Montauban (esp. nos. 867-1402,867-1409) relate more closely to Wildenstein no. 113 than to CAI.58. It was engraved by Adrian Nargeot (L'Artiste, 1876).
There are two paintings of the same subject by Bonington (1802-28) in the Wallace Collection (no. 351, oil on canvas; no. 733 water-colour). The subject was also painted by Pierre Henri Revoil (1776-1842) (L. Rosenthal, La peinture romantique, 1900, p. 75).
Prov. Given by Ingres to Dominique Papery, pensionnaire of the Académie de France in Rome (according to Wildenstein); M. Delavey berette, Duc de Morny; before 1876, M. Meyer; before 1884, Constantine Alexander Ionides; bequeathed to the Museum in 1900.
Exh. French and Dutch Romanticists, Dowdeswell Galleries, 1889, no. 193.
Lit. H. Delaborde, Ingres, Paris, 1870, p. 230, no. 64; R. de la Ferte, 'Les petits tableaux de Ingres' in L'Artiste, 1876, pl. i, p. 51 f., repr.; C. Monkhouse, 1884, p. 39; Anon., 'Additions to the National Collections' in Athenaeum, July 1904, p. 119; H. Lapauze, Ingres, sa vie et son oeuvre, 1911, p. 189; G. Wildenstein, Ingres, 2nd ed., London, 1956, no. 114, fig. 63.
R. de la Ferté, 'Les petits tableaux de Ingres' in L'Artiste, 1876, pl. i, p. 51 f., repr.
Anon., 'Additions to the National Collections' in Athenaeum, July 1904, p. 119.
H. Lapauze, Ingres, sa vie et son oeuvre, 1911, p. 189.
Exhibition History
Ingres, 1780-1867 (Musée du Louvre, Paris 20/02/2006-15/05/2006)
French and Dutch Romanticists (Dowdeswell Galleries 01/01/1889-31/12/1889)
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Louis (XIII, King of France); Henry IV, King of France
Categories
Children & Childhood; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
