JEAN GALARD
HOW THE NUDE AROSE IN PAINTING
THE SIGHT OF NUDITY, EVEN IF ONLY PAINTED, IS LIKELY TO AROUSE EROTIC EMOTIONS, AND SEEMS
slim, with long legs, interminable and opulent thighs, high tiny breasts, and narrow shoulders. There is still
THEREFORE HARDLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE SUPPOSED PURITY OF AESTHETIC CONTEMPLATION. But
something gothic in her proportions, with the slight hipshot pose of 14th century ivory virgins. To the French
without the power of Eros, probably neither sculpture nor painting would exist. The particular importance
author and art critic Théophile Gautier, she looks like one of those statuettes appearing on cathedral porches,
art has attached to the nude human body is complex, that is to say impure; a confluence of basic instincts,
but divested of her clothes of stone. There is actually some strangeness in her appearance, and a sympa-
obscure impulses and the ploys and achievements of sublimation. The Nude is thus the artistic theme par
thetic awkwardness recalling medieval Nordic statues. But as a matter of fact, she has descended from her
excellence: a subject of excitation, a source of enthusiasm, and in some bluntly realistic cases, a matter of
cathedral porch, she has undressed and she is obviously not embarrassed at all. What happened?
compassion, an object of fascinated disgust, and an obscenity symbol.
36 | LE LOUVRE NU
It happened in Italy, when the Middle Ages had not yet come to an end, in the very beginnings of what
Allegedly, it was only in public baths that people were permitted in the European Middle Ages to show
was to be called the Renaissance. There, the first human bodies shown entirely naked did not descend from
themselves undressed. Nudity did not exist anywhere else, not even in painting, scarcely in sculpture. The
the facades of cathedrals. On the contrary, one might say they arose out of the soil that had buried Antique
responsibility for this deprivation is commonly ascribed to Christianity. In contrast to Hellenistic and Roman
statuary. For the sculptural decoration of the Pisa Baptistery, Nicola Pisano executed in 1260 a male figure,
paganism, this rigorous and tenacious religion is said to have preached for more than one thousand years
with protruding right hip and visible genitals, symbolising Strength or Courage. The naked statue resembles
the depreciation of the body, the contempt for the flesh and the proscription of nudity. Such is the reputa-
an Antique Hercules. For the cathedral, Nicola’s son Giovanni Pisano created around the year 1300 an alle-
tion Christianity has acquired, and there is certainly some truth in it. Whenever a man and a woman appear
gory of Temperance, represented by a woman concealing her breasts with one hand and her pudenda with
nude in medieval representations, because they sometimes do, they obviously feel greatly embarrassed.
the other hand, a gesture very similar to that of numerous Venus Pudica statues inherited from Antiquity.
The nudity represented in those times was in the first place the nakedness of our First Parents, deformed
It is true that those two works are quite exceptional for their times, and they are sculptures. But one and
and pitiful after their sin, or the nudity of the damned being precipitated into Hell on the Day of Judgement.
a half century later, it was accomplished: the Nude started its long and brilliant career in painting. In the
The undressed body is a pathetic one: the shameful bodies of Adam and Eve, the tormented bodies of the
church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Masaccio painted the Expulsion from the Garden of Paradise
damned, or the tortured bodies of Christ and the martyrs. But let us beware of simplification: those austere
around 1425, and about the same time, Masolino created his two figures of Adam and Eve, gloriously
times depicted also a happy nudity, one that is a symbol of innocence naively enjoying the incredible
naked just before the Fall. The famous, now restored figures can be admired in the Brancacci Chapel. They
benefits of the Garden of Eden. Yet disgrace is always looming. The sculpted Eve on the cathedral of Autun
are still Adam and Eve, the miserable creatures, but now obviously studied, elaborated, refined following
dating from the 12th century drags herself along the ground, amidst the vegetation, one hand already on
the example of Greek or Hellenistic works then recently discovered. With Masaccio, Eve’s distress is clearly
the fruit she is unfortunately about to pick. Some have seen a lascivious pose in the strangely arched body.
terrifying, while Masolino’s biblical heroes are impressively elegant and seem to inspire admiration for phys-
Kenneth Clark is more convincing, stating that the figure is hard, flat and veined like a tree trunk. In his mas-
ical beauty rather than horror in the face of eternal punishment. While on the one hand archaeological finds
terwork, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form, published in 1956, Clark cites as examples for the puritanism of
provided more and more models, on the other hand anatomical studies were progressing and the painters
the Christian tradition the Adam and Eve statues of 13th century Bamberg cathedral. They are the very first
realized that the fine representation of flesh covered by skin presupposed a precise knowledge of bones
life-size nudes of German sculpture, perhaps even of medieval art, and their bodies he says are as deprived
and muscles. As Leon Battista Alberti, the first modern theoretician of painting, wrote in De Pictura in 1435,
of sensuality as the buttresses of a gothic church.
one had to draw a naked body prior to draping it. The painters would follow this advice for a long time.
Now how did it become possible to overcome this long discrediting of the human body? How did nudity
Jacques-Louis David closely studied the antique during his stay in Rome from 1775 to 1780, and he designed
recover from its thousand-year-old abasement? How did it free itself from the notions of humiliation and
several of his large paintings by first arranging naked figures on the canvas and subsequently dressing them
suffering attached to it? What stages had to be passed until Cranach’s Venus of 1529 could dare show her-
in paint; as did his confrere Ingres.
self standing tall, facing front, in the pleasant landscape surrounding a city, wearing nothing but a huge,
Under such favourable circumstances, the ancestors of humanity finally looked beautiful and true to life.
eccentric red hat, a gemstone necklace and a gauze veil that does not conceal anything? She is very tall and
And since artistic recipes used to circulate quite easily throughout Europe, very attractive versions of Adam
LE LOUVRE NU | 37
JEAN GALARD
HOW THE NUDE AROSE IN PAINTING
THE SIGHT OF NUDITY, EVEN IF ONLY PAINTED, IS LIKELY TO AROUSE EROTIC EMOTIONS, AND SEEMS
slim, with long legs, interminable and opulent thighs, high tiny breasts, and narrow shoulders. There is still
THEREFORE HARDLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE SUPPOSED PURITY OF AESTHETIC CONTEMPLATION. But
something gothic in her proportions, with the slight hipshot pose of 14th century ivory virgins. To the French
without the power of Eros, probably neither sculpture nor painting would exist. The particular importance
author and art critic Théophile Gautier, she looks like one of those statuettes appearing on cathedral porches,
art has attached to the nude human body is complex, that is to say impure; a confluence of basic instincts,
but divested of her clothes of stone. There is actually some strangeness in her appearance, and a sympa-
obscure impulses and the ploys and achievements of sublimation. The Nude is thus the artistic theme par
thetic awkwardness recalling medieval Nordic statues. But as a matter of fact, she has descended from her
excellence: a subject of excitation, a source of enthusiasm, and in some bluntly realistic cases, a matter of
cathedral porch, she has undressed and she is obviously not embarrassed at all. What happened?
compassion, an object of fascinated disgust, and an obscenity symbol.
36 | LE LOUVRE NU
It happened in Italy, when the Middle Ages had not yet come to an end, in the very beginnings of what
Allegedly, it was only in public baths that people were permitted in the European Middle Ages to show
was to be called the Renaissance. There, the first human bodies shown entirely naked did not descend from
themselves undressed. Nudity did not exist anywhere else, not even in painting, scarcely in sculpture. The
the facades of cathedrals. On the contrary, one might say they arose out of the soil that had buried Antique
responsibility for this deprivation is commonly ascribed to Christianity. In contrast to Hellenistic and Roman
statuary. For the sculptural decoration of the Pisa Baptistery, Nicola Pisano executed in 1260 a male figure,
paganism, this rigorous and tenacious religion is said to have preached for more than one thousand years
with protruding right hip and visible genitals, symbolising Strength or Courage. The naked statue resembles
the depreciation of the body, the contempt for the flesh and the proscription of nudity. Such is the reputa-
an Antique Hercules. For the cathedral, Nicola’s son Giovanni Pisano created around the year 1300 an alle-
tion Christianity has acquired, and there is certainly some truth in it. Whenever a man and a woman appear
gory of Temperance, represented by a woman concealing her breasts with one hand and her pudenda with
nude in medieval representations, because they sometimes do, they obviously feel greatly embarrassed.
the other hand, a gesture very similar to that of numerous Venus Pudica statues inherited from Antiquity.
The nudity represented in those times was in the first place the nakedness of our First Parents, deformed
It is true that those two works are quite exceptional for their times, and they are sculptures. But one and
and pitiful after their sin, or the nudity of the damned being precipitated into Hell on the Day of Judgement.
a half century later, it was accomplished: the Nude started its long and brilliant career in painting. In the
The undressed body is a pathetic one: the shameful bodies of Adam and Eve, the tormented bodies of the
church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Masaccio painted the Expulsion from the Garden of Paradise
damned, or the tortured bodies of Christ and the martyrs. But let us beware of simplification: those austere
around 1425, and about the same time, Masolino created his two figures of Adam and Eve, gloriously
times depicted also a happy nudity, one that is a symbol of innocence naively enjoying the incredible
naked just before the Fall. The famous, now restored figures can be admired in the Brancacci Chapel. They
benefits of the Garden of Eden. Yet disgrace is always looming. The sculpted Eve on the cathedral of Autun
are still Adam and Eve, the miserable creatures, but now obviously studied, elaborated, refined following
dating from the 12th century drags herself along the ground, amidst the vegetation, one hand already on
the example of Greek or Hellenistic works then recently discovered. With Masaccio, Eve’s distress is clearly
the fruit she is unfortunately about to pick. Some have seen a lascivious pose in the strangely arched body.
terrifying, while Masolino’s biblical heroes are impressively elegant and seem to inspire admiration for phys-
Kenneth Clark is more convincing, stating that the figure is hard, flat and veined like a tree trunk. In his mas-
ical beauty rather than horror in the face of eternal punishment. While on the one hand archaeological finds
terwork, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form, published in 1956, Clark cites as examples for the puritanism of
provided more and more models, on the other hand anatomical studies were progressing and the painters
the Christian tradition the Adam and Eve statues of 13th century Bamberg cathedral. They are the very first
realized that the fine representation of flesh covered by skin presupposed a precise knowledge of bones
life-size nudes of German sculpture, perhaps even of medieval art, and their bodies he says are as deprived
and muscles. As Leon Battista Alberti, the first modern theoretician of painting, wrote in De Pictura in 1435,
of sensuality as the buttresses of a gothic church.
one had to draw a naked body prior to draping it. The painters would follow this advice for a long time.
Now how did it become possible to overcome this long discrediting of the human body? How did nudity
Jacques-Louis David closely studied the antique during his stay in Rome from 1775 to 1780, and he designed
recover from its thousand-year-old abasement? How did it free itself from the notions of humiliation and
several of his large paintings by first arranging naked figures on the canvas and subsequently dressing them
suffering attached to it? What stages had to be passed until Cranach’s Venus of 1529 could dare show her-
in paint; as did his confrere Ingres.
self standing tall, facing front, in the pleasant landscape surrounding a city, wearing nothing but a huge,
Under such favourable circumstances, the ancestors of humanity finally looked beautiful and true to life.
eccentric red hat, a gemstone necklace and a gauze veil that does not conceal anything? She is very tall and
And since artistic recipes used to circulate quite easily throughout Europe, very attractive versions of Adam
LE LOUVRE NU | 37
EDITION LAMMERHUBER LE LOUVRE NU BELANGER GALARD LAMMERHUBER
EDITION LAMMERHUBER LE LOUVRE NU BELANGER GALARD LAMMERHUBER
32 – 35
46 – 47
31
37
168 – 169
20, 48 – 49
52 – 53
50 – 51 L’œuvre, retrouvée en Allemagne à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, a été remise à la garde des musées nationaux en
54 – 55
1951 par l’Office des Biens et Intérêts Privés. / This painting was recovered in Germany at the end of the Second World War and entrusted in 1951 to the care of the national museums by the Office des Biens et Intérêts Privés.
PIETRO DI CRISTOFORO VANNUCCI, IL PERUGINO (vers / c. 1448 – 1523) ; Saint Sébastien / St. Sebastian; vers / c.1490-1500; 176 x 116 cm; R.F. 957
MATHIS GERUNG (vers / c. 1500 – 1568 / 70) ; La Destruction de Troie et le Jugement de Pâris / The Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War ; 1540; 103 x 151 cm; M.N.R. 940
Pietro Vannucci, né à Città della Pieve, a été fait citoyen d’honneur de la ville de Pérouse en 1485, d’où son surnom. Il a traité à une dizaine de reprises le thème du martyre de Sébastien, évitant presque toujours de blesser le saint de plus de deux flèches, comme pour lui conserver une douce beauté.
Le tableau est une vaste composition panoramique où abondent les détails miniaturisés : paysage, architectures, personnages en nombre infini répartis en diverses scènes simultanées. La représentation de la Guerre de Troie occupe le plus grand espace. Le Jugement de Pâris, qui est la cause lointaine de cette guerre, est figuré en bas au centre.
Pietro Vannucci was born in Città della Pieve. He is known as “Il Perugino”, a name derived from the city of Perugia that made him a citizen of honour in 1485. He painted about ten versions of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, always avoiding blessing the saint by more than two arrows, as if anxious to preserve him a soft beauty.
The tableau is a vast panorama composition with a wealth of miniaturized detail arranged in individual scenes. The representation of the Trojan War takes most of the space, while the Judgement of Paris, the remote cause of this war, is shown in a tiny scene close to the bottom of the painting.
PIETRO DI CRISTOFORO VANUCCI, IL PERUGINO (vers / c. 1450 – 1523) ; Apollon et Marsyas / Apollo and Marsyas ; 1495-1500 ? ; 39 x 29 cm ; R.F. 370
JEAN COUSIN LE PÈRE (vers / c. 1490 – vers / c. 1560) ; Eva Prima Pandora ; vers / c. 1550 ; 97 x 150 cm ; R.F. 2373
D’après les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, le satyre Marsyas a ramassé une flûte qu’Athéna avait jetée et il a osé défier Apollon dans une joute qui lui sera fatale. Apollon est représenté ici, debout près de sa lyre, appuyé sur sa jambe droite, dans une pose déhanchée semblable à celle du David de Donatello.
D’après la mythologie grecque, Pandôra ouvrit par curiosité un vase qui devait rester fermé. Tous les maux s’en échappèrent et se répandirent sur la terre. Pandôra referma le vase sur l’Espérance, qui resta à l’intérieur. Jean Cousin assimile ce personnage ancestral à Ève, première femme selon la Bible.
According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the satyr Marsyas picked up a flute that had been abandoned by Athena and dared challenge Apollo to a contest with dire consequences to himself. Apollo is shown standing next to his lyre, in a hipshot posture very similar to the bearing of Donatello’s David.
According to Greek mythology, Pandora, impelled by curiosity, opened a jar which she was not to open under any circumstances. All of the evils of mankind escaped from it and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, and Hope alone remained in the jar. Jean Cousin equates this ancestral personage with Eve, the first woman mentioned in the Bible.
JOOS VAN CLEVE (vers / c. 1485 – 1540/41) ; Adam et Ève / Adam and Eve ; 1507 ; 60 x 20 cm ; R.F. 839 et 840 Les deux panneaux sont des revers de volets d’un triptyque (la largeur de 20 cm est celle de chacun d’eux). Joos van Cleve, né à Clèves, mort à Anvers, a peint ces deux panneaux au tout début de sa carrière. Ils sont datés de la même année que l’Adam et Ève de Dürer (Madrid, Prado). The two panels are the reverses of triptych wings, each with 20 cm width. The artist was born in Cleves and died in Antwerp. He painted these two panels in the early years of his career. They are dated in the same year as those painted by Dürer (Adam and Eve, Madrid, Prado). LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452 – 1519) ; Saint Jean-Baptiste / St. John The Baptist ; vers / c. 1513-1516 ; 69 x 57 cm ; INV. 775 L’œuvre est de la fin de la carrière de Léonard. Elle a suscité maintes perplexités par ses ambiguïtés : saint Jean-Baptiste ou Bacchus ? homme ou femme ? expression religieuse ou provocation sardonique ? visage idéal ou sourire méphistophélique ? The painting is a late work of Leonardo’s, and its enigmatic nature has given rise to a lot of controversy: St. John the Baptist or Bacchus, man or woman, religious expression or sardonic provocation, idealized face or Mephistophelean smile? LUCAS CRANACH DER ÄLTERE (1472 – 1553) ; Vénus debout dans un paysage / Venus Standing in a Landscape ; 1529 ; 38 x 25 cm ; INV. 1180 Lucas Müller, né à Kronach en Haute-Franconie (d’où le nom qu’on lui a donné), a fréquenté à Vienne, en 1503-1504, les milieux humanistes. Il s’établit à Wittenberg en 1505. Outre ses œuvres religieuses et ses portraits, il a peint une série d’étranges Vénus, au corps très allongé. Celle du Louvre est une des premières. La signification de son large chapeau rouge n’a jamais été vraiment élucidée. Born Lucas Müller in Kronach in Upper Franconia (hence the name Cranach), the artist frequented humanist circles in Vienna in 1503-1504, and settled in Wittenberg in 1505. In addition to religious works and portraits, he created a series of strange Venus representations with elongated bodies. The Louvre Venus is one of the earliest of the series. The meaning of her large red hat has not yet been fully elucidated. 56 – 57
58 – 59
6, 60 – 61
PARIS BORDONE (1500 – 1571) ; Flore / Flora ; vers / c. 1540 ; 105 x 85 cm ; R.F. 1474 Au XVIe siècle, les courtisanes de Venise, dont on dit qu’elles étaient belles, élégantes et cultivées, se plaisaient à se faire représenter sous les traits de Flore, la déesse italique qui préside à l’éclosion des fleurs au printemps : Paris Bordone, portraitiste vénitien, a immortalisé le visage et les appas de l’une d’elle. The Venice courtesans of the 16th century are said to have been beautiful, elegant, and refined. They liked to have themselves portrayed as Flora, the Italic goddess of spring and flowers: the Venetian portraitist Paris Bordone perpetuated the face and feminine charms of one of them.
LAMBERT SUSTRIS (vers / c. 1515/20 – vers / c. 1568) ; Vénus et l’Amour / Venus and Amor ; vers / c. 1550 ; 132 x 184 cm ; INV. 1978 Lambert Sustris, né à Amsterdam, s’est rendu, jeune, en Italie. Il a travaillé auprès de Titien et a accompagné celui-ci à Augsbourg en 1548 et en 1550. C’est à Augsbourg probablement qu’il a peint, pour les Fugger, famille de banquiers, ce tableau mythologique. Cupidon, fils de Vénus, semble s’apprêter à frapper d’une flèche deux colombes en train de faire l’amour. Lambert Sustris was born in Amsterdam and went to Italy at an early age. He worked with Titian, whom he accompanied to Augsburg in 1548 and in 1550. It was probably in Augsburg that he painted this mythological scene for the Fugger family. Cupid, son of Venus, seems to be about to hit the two mating doves with an arrow. ÉCOLE DE FONTAINEBLEAU (XVIe siècle / 16th century) ; Vénus à sa toilette / Venus at Her Toilet ; Milieu du XVIe siècle / Mid-16th century ; 97 x 126 cm ; R.F. 658 L’auteur de ce tableau a vécu parmi les artistes italiens qui avaient été invités à travailler au château de Fontainebleau. L’un d’eux, Rosso Fiorentino a directement inspiré l’attitude de la servante qui est aux pieds de Vénus. The author of this painting lived with the Italian artists who had been invited to work at Fontainebleau Castle. The attitude of the servant at Venus’ feet was inspired directly by one of those artists, Rosso Fiorentino. JAN MASSYS (vers / c. 1509 – 1575) ; David et Bethsabée / David and Bathsheba ; 1562 ; 162 x 197 cm ; INV. 1446
Les numéros indiqués sous les images renvoient aux pages du livre. Les œuvres sont placées dans l’ordre chronologique. Les dimensions des reproductions l’une par rapport à l’autre indiquent approximativement les proportions réelles.
Jan Massys est le fils du peintre Quentin Metsys (ou Massys). Il représente ici une scène biblique qui sert de prétexte à un nu marmoréen : « Un soir David se leva de sa couche et se rendit sur la terrasse du palais. Pendant qu’il s’y promenait, il vit une femme qui prenait un bain. Elle était très belle. » (second livre de Samuel, chapitre XI). Le tableau montre, près de Bethsabée, le messager envoyé par le roi.
The numbers below the images refer to the book pages. The paintings are arranged in chronological order. The dimensions of the pictures in relation to one another indicate approximately the actual proportions.
Jan Massys is the son of the painter Quentin Metsys (or Massys). The artist has chosen a scene from the Bible serving as a pretext to depict a marmoreal nude: “One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked about up there, he saw a woman having a bath. She was very beautiful.” (2 Samuel 11, 2). Standing next to Bathsheba is the messenger sent by the King.
32 – 35
46 – 47
31
37
168 – 169
20, 48 – 49
52 – 53
50 – 51 L’œuvre, retrouvée en Allemagne à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, a été remise à la garde des musées nationaux en
54 – 55
1951 par l’Office des Biens et Intérêts Privés. / This painting was recovered in Germany at the end of the Second World War and entrusted in 1951 to the care of the national museums by the Office des Biens et Intérêts Privés.
PIETRO DI CRISTOFORO VANNUCCI, IL PERUGINO (vers / c. 1448 – 1523) ; Saint Sébastien / St. Sebastian; vers / c.1490-1500; 176 x 116 cm; R.F. 957
MATHIS GERUNG (vers / c. 1500 – 1568 / 70) ; La Destruction de Troie et le Jugement de Pâris / The Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War ; 1540; 103 x 151 cm; M.N.R. 940
Pietro Vannucci, né à Città della Pieve, a été fait citoyen d’honneur de la ville de Pérouse en 1485, d’où son surnom. Il a traité à une dizaine de reprises le thème du martyre de Sébastien, évitant presque toujours de blesser le saint de plus de deux flèches, comme pour lui conserver une douce beauté.
Le tableau est une vaste composition panoramique où abondent les détails miniaturisés : paysage, architectures, personnages en nombre infini répartis en diverses scènes simultanées. La représentation de la Guerre de Troie occupe le plus grand espace. Le Jugement de Pâris, qui est la cause lointaine de cette guerre, est figuré en bas au centre.
Pietro Vannucci was born in Città della Pieve. He is known as “Il Perugino”, a name derived from the city of Perugia that made him a citizen of honour in 1485. He painted about ten versions of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, always avoiding blessing the saint by more than two arrows, as if anxious to preserve him a soft beauty.
The tableau is a vast panorama composition with a wealth of miniaturized detail arranged in individual scenes. The representation of the Trojan War takes most of the space, while the Judgement of Paris, the remote cause of this war, is shown in a tiny scene close to the bottom of the painting.
PIETRO DI CRISTOFORO VANUCCI, IL PERUGINO (vers / c. 1450 – 1523) ; Apollon et Marsyas / Apollo and Marsyas ; 1495-1500 ? ; 39 x 29 cm ; R.F. 370
JEAN COUSIN LE PÈRE (vers / c. 1490 – vers / c. 1560) ; Eva Prima Pandora ; vers / c. 1550 ; 97 x 150 cm ; R.F. 2373
D’après les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, le satyre Marsyas a ramassé une flûte qu’Athéna avait jetée et il a osé défier Apollon dans une joute qui lui sera fatale. Apollon est représenté ici, debout près de sa lyre, appuyé sur sa jambe droite, dans une pose déhanchée semblable à celle du David de Donatello.
D’après la mythologie grecque, Pandôra ouvrit par curiosité un vase qui devait rester fermé. Tous les maux s’en échappèrent et se répandirent sur la terre. Pandôra referma le vase sur l’Espérance, qui resta à l’intérieur. Jean Cousin assimile ce personnage ancestral à Ève, première femme selon la Bible.
According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the satyr Marsyas picked up a flute that had been abandoned by Athena and dared challenge Apollo to a contest with dire consequences to himself. Apollo is shown standing next to his lyre, in a hipshot posture very similar to the bearing of Donatello’s David.
According to Greek mythology, Pandora, impelled by curiosity, opened a jar which she was not to open under any circumstances. All of the evils of mankind escaped from it and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, and Hope alone remained in the jar. Jean Cousin equates this ancestral personage with Eve, the first woman mentioned in the Bible.
JOOS VAN CLEVE (vers / c. 1485 – 1540/41) ; Adam et Ève / Adam and Eve ; 1507 ; 60 x 20 cm ; R.F. 839 et 840 Les deux panneaux sont des revers de volets d’un triptyque (la largeur de 20 cm est celle de chacun d’eux). Joos van Cleve, né à Clèves, mort à Anvers, a peint ces deux panneaux au tout début de sa carrière. Ils sont datés de la même année que l’Adam et Ève de Dürer (Madrid, Prado). The two panels are the reverses of triptych wings, each with 20 cm width. The artist was born in Cleves and died in Antwerp. He painted these two panels in the early years of his career. They are dated in the same year as those painted by Dürer (Adam and Eve, Madrid, Prado). LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452 – 1519) ; Saint Jean-Baptiste / St. John The Baptist ; vers / c. 1513-1516 ; 69 x 57 cm ; INV. 775 L’œuvre est de la fin de la carrière de Léonard. Elle a suscité maintes perplexités par ses ambiguïtés : saint Jean-Baptiste ou Bacchus ? homme ou femme ? expression religieuse ou provocation sardonique ? visage idéal ou sourire méphistophélique ? The painting is a late work of Leonardo’s, and its enigmatic nature has given rise to a lot of controversy: St. John the Baptist or Bacchus, man or woman, religious expression or sardonic provocation, idealized face or Mephistophelean smile? LUCAS CRANACH DER ÄLTERE (1472 – 1553) ; Vénus debout dans un paysage / Venus Standing in a Landscape ; 1529 ; 38 x 25 cm ; INV. 1180 Lucas Müller, né à Kronach en Haute-Franconie (d’où le nom qu’on lui a donné), a fréquenté à Vienne, en 1503-1504, les milieux humanistes. Il s’établit à Wittenberg en 1505. Outre ses œuvres religieuses et ses portraits, il a peint une série d’étranges Vénus, au corps très allongé. Celle du Louvre est une des premières. La signification de son large chapeau rouge n’a jamais été vraiment élucidée. Born Lucas Müller in Kronach in Upper Franconia (hence the name Cranach), the artist frequented humanist circles in Vienna in 1503-1504, and settled in Wittenberg in 1505. In addition to religious works and portraits, he created a series of strange Venus representations with elongated bodies. The Louvre Venus is one of the earliest of the series. The meaning of her large red hat has not yet been fully elucidated. 56 – 57
58 – 59
6, 60 – 61
PARIS BORDONE (1500 – 1571) ; Flore / Flora ; vers / c. 1540 ; 105 x 85 cm ; R.F. 1474 Au XVIe siècle, les courtisanes de Venise, dont on dit qu’elles étaient belles, élégantes et cultivées, se plaisaient à se faire représenter sous les traits de Flore, la déesse italique qui préside à l’éclosion des fleurs au printemps : Paris Bordone, portraitiste vénitien, a immortalisé le visage et les appas de l’une d’elle. The Venice courtesans of the 16th century are said to have been beautiful, elegant, and refined. They liked to have themselves portrayed as Flora, the Italic goddess of spring and flowers: the Venetian portraitist Paris Bordone perpetuated the face and feminine charms of one of them.
LAMBERT SUSTRIS (vers / c. 1515/20 – vers / c. 1568) ; Vénus et l’Amour / Venus and Amor ; vers / c. 1550 ; 132 x 184 cm ; INV. 1978 Lambert Sustris, né à Amsterdam, s’est rendu, jeune, en Italie. Il a travaillé auprès de Titien et a accompagné celui-ci à Augsbourg en 1548 et en 1550. C’est à Augsbourg probablement qu’il a peint, pour les Fugger, famille de banquiers, ce tableau mythologique. Cupidon, fils de Vénus, semble s’apprêter à frapper d’une flèche deux colombes en train de faire l’amour. Lambert Sustris was born in Amsterdam and went to Italy at an early age. He worked with Titian, whom he accompanied to Augsburg in 1548 and in 1550. It was probably in Augsburg that he painted this mythological scene for the Fugger family. Cupid, son of Venus, seems to be about to hit the two mating doves with an arrow. ÉCOLE DE FONTAINEBLEAU (XVIe siècle / 16th century) ; Vénus à sa toilette / Venus at Her Toilet ; Milieu du XVIe siècle / Mid-16th century ; 97 x 126 cm ; R.F. 658 L’auteur de ce tableau a vécu parmi les artistes italiens qui avaient été invités à travailler au château de Fontainebleau. L’un d’eux, Rosso Fiorentino a directement inspiré l’attitude de la servante qui est aux pieds de Vénus. The author of this painting lived with the Italian artists who had been invited to work at Fontainebleau Castle. The attitude of the servant at Venus’ feet was inspired directly by one of those artists, Rosso Fiorentino. JAN MASSYS (vers / c. 1509 – 1575) ; David et Bethsabée / David and Bathsheba ; 1562 ; 162 x 197 cm ; INV. 1446
Les numéros indiqués sous les images renvoient aux pages du livre. Les œuvres sont placées dans l’ordre chronologique. Les dimensions des reproductions l’une par rapport à l’autre indiquent approximativement les proportions réelles.
Jan Massys est le fils du peintre Quentin Metsys (ou Massys). Il représente ici une scène biblique qui sert de prétexte à un nu marmoréen : « Un soir David se leva de sa couche et se rendit sur la terrasse du palais. Pendant qu’il s’y promenait, il vit une femme qui prenait un bain. Elle était très belle. » (second livre de Samuel, chapitre XI). Le tableau montre, près de Bethsabée, le messager envoyé par le roi.
The numbers below the images refer to the book pages. The paintings are arranged in chronological order. The dimensions of the pictures in relation to one another indicate approximately the actual proportions.
Jan Massys is the son of the painter Quentin Metsys (or Massys). The artist has chosen a scene from the Bible serving as a pretext to depict a marmoreal nude: “One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked about up there, he saw a woman having a bath. She was very beautiful.” (2 Samuel 11, 2). Standing next to Bathsheba is the messenger sent by the King.