Jean Louis Victor Viger de Vigneau (Argentan, 1819- Paris, 1879), The Death of Cleopatra

Jean Louis Victor Viger de Vigneau (Argentan, 1819- Paris, 1879)

The death of Cleopatra

Oil on panel, 21 x 28 cm

With frame, 34 x 39 cm

Signed lower right “H. Viger. D.”

Born in Argentan, Normandy, into a family of humble origins, at a very young age Viger de Vigneau, given his precocious and marked talent, was introduced to the profession of painting, attending the school of graphic arts founded in Rouen by Raymond Quinsac Monvoisin, a student of the famous Pierre Narcisse Guerin; the artistic training of the French painter continued at the very popular Parisian ateliers of the painters Paul Delaroche, Martin Drolling and Henri Lehman. Thanks to his multifaceted education, since his youth the artist developed an absolutely personal style, which does not aim at slavish emulation but at the shrewd reinterpretation of the models of the great masters of French academicism of the mid-40th century. The artist's works, starting from the 800s, were received extremely positively in Paris and were purchased by the aristocracy and the wealthiest members of the nascent bourgeoisie of the time: the opinions relating to the works exhibited at the Salon were also absolutely positive, an event at which Jean Louis Victor Viger de Vigneau appeared to be constantly present starting from 1845. The great appreciation by his contemporaries materialized in 1850, with his appointment as secretary general of the Parisian artists' committee. Starting in 1859, the painter received numerous commissions, including one for the cartoons for the three monumental stained glass windows of the choir of the Parisian church of Saint-Leu, depicting Christ and the prophets Moses and Elijah. Starting from the early 60s the artist worked directly for Napoleon III, creating various portraits and a series of canvases dedicated to the reconstruction of the history of the imperial family. The artist had been hosted by Princess Eugenie, the Emperor's wife, at the castle of Malmaison, where he was commissioned to fresco the hall of honor. Upon his death in 1879, his friend the poet Emile Bertin dedicated a poem to him, published the following year in the miscellany Parnasse: "His work will remain, Viger! the great pages that you have been able to retrace, and your fascinating panels, your vivid portraits will live through the centuries, supported, protected and consecrated by time." The celebrated art critic Deschamps expressed himself favorably about Viger's work in an 1879 article commemorating him, praising the painter of Norman origins for his ability to represent the most powerful figures of the empire in a magniloquent manner without renouncing a lenticular realism.

In this painting, perfectly in line with the painting of the great French masters of the mid-nineteenth century, first of all Courbet, the Egyptian queen is depicted naked, in an extremely sensual pose, reclining on a soft red damask triclinium. The agile and rapid brushstrokes as well as the rendering of the brightness and transparency of the fabrics highlight the extraordinary technical expertise of the artist, capable of providing maximum emphasis to the intriguing female figure. Female subjects of a mythological nature frequently recur in Viger's entire pictorial corpus, as demonstrated by Flora and Zephyr, a painting commissioned by Napoleon III whose location is now unknown (the work is currently known only through historical photographs).