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Painting in compigné view of the bustling harbor of Marseille

Painting in compigné view of the bustling harbor of Marseille
Painting in compigné view of the bustling harbor of Marseille - Image 2
Painting in compigné view of the bustling harbor of Marseille - Image 3
5 000 €
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    • Description
    • Histoire

    France, second half of the xviiith century

    Thomas Compigné

    After a painting by Joseph Vernet, View of the Saint- Jean fountain at Marseille

    Gold, pewter, gouache and blackened wood

    Inscription « Second view of Marseille. Fontaine Saint-Jean. Executed sur le tour by Compigné, tourneur du Roi in Paris after the original painting of Mr. Vernet, “painter of his Majesty « .

     

    Diameter (with frame): 10,5cm – 4 inches

    Diameter: 8cm – 3 inches

    Close examples

    • -  Pierre-François Laurent, View of the Saint- Jean fountain at Marseille, engraving after the painting by Joseph Vernet A view of the Saint-Jean fountain at Marseille, circa 1750- 1800, 31.6 × 35.5 cm, New York, Metropolitan Museum, (inv. 53.600.1501)
    • -  Thomas Compigné, Compigné medallion representing a view of the Saint-Jean fountain at Marseille„ second half of the 18th century, after the painting by Joseph Vernet, A view of the Saint-Jean fountain at Marseille, Paris, Galerie Léage
    • -  Thomas Compigné, Pair of Compigné paintings with an animated view of Marseille, second painting of the pair, second half of the 18th century, after a painting by Joseph Vernet, Paris, Galerie Léage

    This Compigné painting, set off by a blackened wood frame with a beaded edge, is representing a coastal scene in the harbor of Marseille. It shows people busy filling up barrels with water at the Saint-Jean fountain and then loading them onto a boat. On the left of this scene, the mast of a boat balances out the composition. Further to the right, fort Saint-Jean, recognizable by its tower, overlooks the entrance to the port. In the distance, a sailboat waiting for supplies creates a breakpoint with the skyline and adds verticality to the scene. The sky with its pink tones softens out the composition and announces the beginning of a new day, accentuating the daily character of the scene. This representation is thus a testimony of the life in Marseille, a city which economy has always mainly rested on maritime trade.

    Bibliography 

    • Plaisir de France, « Les Compignés et leurs créateurs, ces délicats chefs‑d’œuvre de la tabletterie au XVIIIe siècle », n° 427, March 1975.
      Compigné, peintre et tabletier du Roy, catalogue d’exposition, Grasse, Villa-Musée Jean- Honoré Fragonard, June-July 1991.

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