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Circle of Pierre Mignard I

God the Father, after 1664

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall (oval): 46.5 x 60.3 cm (18 5/16 x 23 3/4 in.)

framed: 61.9 x 75.9 x 6.4 cm (24 3/8 x 29 7/8 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund

Accession Number

1986.62.1

Artists / Makers

French 17th Century (painter)

Pierre Mignard I (related artist) French, 1612 - 1695

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

lower right: on banner held by angel, letters upside down: GLORIA IN XELSIS DEO; center reverse, first two letters in monogram: J:B.[or] H:B. N:66. / Albano.

Provenance

John Barnard [d. 1784], London;[1] by inheritance to his nephew, Thomas Hankey [d. 1799], Bedford Park, London; (his estate sale, Christie's, London, 7-8 June 1799, no. 36); James Akers, London; (his sale, Stanley, London, 28-29 April 1814 [originally scheduled for April 21-22], no. 127); George Spencer-Churchill, 5th duke of Marlborough [1766-1840], White Knights, near Reading, Berkshire; (his sale, Hawkes, at his residence, 26-28 October 1819, 3rd day, no. 13). (sale, Phillips, London, 12 October 1985, as Workshop of Albani). (Havari and Johns, London); sold 1986 to NGA.

[1] The painting is inscribed on the reverse "J:B, N:66 / Albano." The initials probably refer to John Barnard.

The painting was possibly lot 35 in the estate sale of Jean de Julienne (1686-1766) held in Paris on 30 March 1767, and the days following: "François Albani, ou L'Albane. 35 Le Pere Eternal & la Hiérarchie Céleste. Tableau, riche de composition & fort de coloris, peint sure une toile de forme ovale, qui porte 17 pouces de haut, sur 22 de large." The measurements translate to 45.93 x 59.44 cm, very close to those of the National Gallery's painting. The engraver Pierre François Basan (1723-1797) is recorded as the buyer; the painting does not appear in his estate sale that was held 1-19 December 1798 in Paris.

It is not known when the painting entered Barnard's collection; it is not itemized in the description of Barnard's collection in Thomas Martyn, The English Connoisseur: Containing an account of whatever is curious in painting, sculpture, &tc. in the palaces and seats of the nobility and principal gentry of England, both in town and country, 2 vols., London, 1766: 1:10-11. See also the letter from Martha Hepworth of the Getty Provenance Index to Eric Garberson, 8 July 1991, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Harari and Johns, Ltd.
Phillips

Exhibition History

1986: The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1986-1987, not in cat.

1998: A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 38.

Bibliography

1984: Pepper, D. Stephen. Guido Reni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works with an Introductory Text. Oxford, 1984.

1987: Bauer, George C. "Bernini's Altar for the Val-de-Grâce." In Light on the Eternal City: Observations and Discoveries in the Art and Architecture of Rome. Papers in Art History from the Pennsylvania State University, 2. Ed. Hellmut Hagar and Susan Scott Munshower. University Park, Pennsylvania, 1987: 177-187.

1988: Charles-Gaffot, Jacques. Trésors d'art sacré à l'ombre du Val-de-Grâce. Exh. cat. Mairie du Ve arrondissement, Paris, 1988.

1994: Mignot, Claude. Le Val-de-Grâce: L'ermitage d'une reine. Paris, 1994.

1996: Fredericksen, Burton B., ed. (assisted by Julia I. Armstrong and Doris A. Mendenhall). Index of Paintings Sold in the British Isles During the Nineteenth Century. 4 vols. Santa Barbara, 1996-1999.

1997: Allen, Christophe. "Les deux premières editions de De arte graphica." In Jean-Claude Boyer, ed. Pierre Mignard "le Romain." Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre par le service culturel le 20 September 1995. Paris, 1997: 117-134.

1997: Boyer, Jean-Claude, and Sylvain Laveissière. "Hommage à Pierre Mignard: La gloire du Val-de-Grâce, grisaille de Michel II Corneille d'après dal coupole de Mignard." In Jean-Claude Boyer, ed. Pierre Mignard "le Romain." Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre par le service culturel le 20 September 1995. Paris, 1997: 161-178.

1997: Boyer, Jean-Claude, and Sylvain Laveissière. "Iconographie de la coupole de Pierre Mignard." In Jean-Claude Boyer, ed. Pierre Mignard "le Romain." Actes du colloque organisé au Musée du Louvre par le service culturel le 20 September 1995. Paris, 1997: 179-194.

2001: Chantelou, Paul Fréart de. Journal du voyage du cavalier Bernin en France. Translated by Milovan Stanić. Paris, 2001.

2009: Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 72, 329-333, color repro.