Masterpieces from the World’s Museums in the Hermitage. Portrait of Francois Marius Granet by Ingres from Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence
14 November 2008 - 25 January 2009 ă.

The one-painting exhibition “Portrait of Granet” from Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence continues the traditional series of “The Masterpieces of the World Museums in the Hermitage”. The exposition is displayed in the Winter Palace (Hall No. 331).

Ingres and Granet studied under Jacques-Louis David and for some time both of them shared their master’s doctrine of neoclassicism. Granet stayed in David’s studio only for several months. After that, he began to work on his own in France and mainly in Italy where he moved in 1802. Ingres studied under David during the period from 1797 till 1801. In 1801, he won the Grand Prix de Rome for his “Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the Tent of Achilles” (School of Fine Arts in Paris). That gave him the opportunity to take the scholarship and move to Italy for four years. In Italy Ingres developed his own conception of neoclassicism that suggested more flexible artistic form and more emotional content of the images.

Portrait of Granet (1775-1849) painted in 1807 in Rome belongs to the best and most soulful works by Ingres of 1800s. This work is least of all characterised by such features as coolness and emotional distance from the model that could be found in some other portraits by Ingres belonging to the same period. The feeling of warmth conveyed in the image of Granet is an evidence of the sincere friendship between the painters.

In the background of the painting the author shows the long facade of Quirinal Palace, the so-called “Long Sleeve” (“Manica Lunga”) designed in Baroque style by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and completed by Ferdinando Fuga in the first half of the XVIII century. A possible stylistic parallel with Quirinal Palace is a Baroque pearl inserted in the gold ring on a finger of Granet’s right hand, a classic element in its structure. In the same hand the portrayed holds a drawing case with the letters GRANET (the letter N turned upside down).

The drawing case painted near Ingres’ inscription in the bottom right corner of the painting prompted some researches to think that the portrait was a result of the artists’ joint work. Some of them believe that the architectural background, or at least part of it, was painted by Granet. Critics suppose that the landscape backgrounds in the other portraits of the Italian period, for example, in the “Portrait of Count N. D. Guriev” (1821) in the Hermitage, were also painted by Granet. However, the studies of the portraits of Granet and Guriev have not revealed noticeable stylistic differences between the shapes and backgrounds in those canvases. On the contrary, these research works confirmed Ingres’ own characteristic style in the afore-mentioned portraits. It can be supposed that while painting portraits in 1807 and 1821 Ingres took the advices of Granet, who was a better architectural and landscape master. It was also detected that  Ingres repainted the sky in “Portrait of Granet” later in 1809. Initially the sky was blue and cloudless, and then it became dark and pre-thunderstorm, being more in the style of Granet’s image in the hooded mantle.

Granet gained recognition of critics and collectors owing to his church interiors and architectural views of Rome. Ingres and Granet often painted the same landscapes working side by side. Later in 1810s Granet became famous as the author of the series of paintings “Interior of the Choir in the Capuchin Church on the Plazza Barberini in Rome”. Two paintings of this series are stored in the Hermitage, the peculiarity of one of them being a cat and a self-portrait of Granet with the usual drawing case in his hands.

The composition “Portrait of Granet” reveals some techniques mastered by Ingres in David’s studio. However, portraits painted by Ingres are characterised by emotional richness which is not characteristic of David’s portraits, even of those portraits where the face of the model is turned towards the observer. Ingres showed the creative power and the confidence in talent in Granet’s look. The painting reflects the inspiration that both Ingres and his model felt while working on the portrait. Ingres and Granet admired by grandeur of Rome and were proud of being participants of the artistic life of that Eternal city.

After finishing the portrait, Ingres presented it to Granet who kept it for the rest of his life. After Granet’s death the portrait was donated to the local museum in the native town of Granet Aix-en-Provence. Later the museum was named after Granet. The friendship between the painters faced the ordeal and withstood periods of quarrels, misunderstanding and rivalry. In 1830 the friendship between Granet and Ingres began to rekindle. In January that year, recalling the time spent together in Italy in 1800s, Granet wrote to his old friend: “those days were the happiest in our life”. The joyous time in the life of the two painters is reflected in "Portrait of Granet” by Ingres.

The exhibition supervisor is Alexander Babin, a leading research officer of the Department of West European Art of the State Hermitage and a Candidate of Science in Art Critisim.