Louis Gabriel – Blanchet (Paris, 1705 – Rome, 1772), Allegory of Sculpture – Allegory of Music, circa 1730/40

Louis Gabriel – Blanchet (Paris, 1705 – Rome, 1772)

Allegory of sculpture Allegory of Music, around 1730/40

(2) Oil on canvas, 22 x 16 cm – With frame, 35 x 28 cm

Critical note by Prof. Alessandro Agresti

These two refined canvases by Louis Gabriel Blanchet (Paris, 1705 – Rome, 1772), depicting the Allegories of Sculpture and Music respectively, represent a perfect example of the cultured style of a French artist who inextricably linked his career to Italy and the cosmopolitan climate of eighteenth-century Rome. Born in Versailles in 1705, Blanchet was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1727, a recognition that opened the doors of the French Academy in Rome for him. Having arrived in the Eternal City, he decided to settle there permanently until his death in 1772. In Rome, Blanchet quickly distinguished himself as one of the most appreciated portraitists and history painters among the local and international aristocracy, forging very strong ties with influential patrons such as the Marquis de Marigny (brother of Madame de Pompadour) and, above all, members of the exiled Stuart court, of which he became the official portraitist. In the two allegories under examination, datable around 1730/40, his peculiar way of painting is clearly visible, which blends the formal elegance of the late French Baroque and early Rococo with the recovery of the classical tradition typical of the new Roman environment (Sebastiano Conca and Bernardino Luti). The brushstroke becomes vibrant, at times free and concise, capable of conveying the material consistency of the different elements with great freshness and a skillful use of chiaroscuro contrasts. In the Sculpture canvas, the female personification is portrayed while working with a chisel and mallet on a powerful, nude and wrapped male figure, which closely recalls the academic study of ancient marbles (with particular reference to the Farnese Hercules) and Michelangelo's statuary. The deep red drapery that envelops the female figure floats dynamically in the air, creating a vivid chromatic counterpoint to the cold marble of the sculpture and the shadowy architectural background. In the counterpart dedicated to Music, the atmosphere becomes more lyrical and pastoral. Behind the eighteenth-century grace of the two compositions lies, in fact, a conceptual framework of notable philosophical and literary depth. If the first iconographic source of reference remains the famous Iconologia by Cesare Ripa — from which Blanchet borrows the traditional attributes of the disciplines, such as the chisel for Sculpture and the score with instruments for Music — the painter enriches the traditional models with a dense Neoplatonic symbology. In the Allegory of Music, in fact, the choice to have the figure seated on a large blue celestial globe becomes an explicit visual reference to Plato's Timaeus and his doctrine of the soul of the world and the music of the spheres; the earthly melody and the musical instruments thus become the sensitive reflection of that cosmic and mathematical harmony that orders the celestial universe, lending the entire cycle an unexpected speculative complexity. Near the woman, caught in the act of reading a musical score, while ancient wind and string instruments lie at her feet, a small winged putto plays a harp, accentuating the melodic and poetic character of the scene. Both works reveal Blanchet's profound academic culture and his extraordinary ability to handle the human figure, volumes, and light, translating complex intellectual concepts into intimate, lively scenes animated by a typically eighteenth-century grace, anticipating neoclassical sensibility without losing the vital theatricality of the Baroque century. The fact that an Allegory of Painting, similar in format and size, has passed through the antiques market would suggest that the canvases belonged to a cycle intended for a reception room. Alongside his works of allegorical and mythological invention - among which we also remember impressive reproductions of archaeological wonders, such as his famous Farnese Hercules in a Niche (1765) or the Apollo Belvedere - Blanchet's fame in Rome remained closely linked to court portraiture and international painting. Examining his most famous masterpieces, one notices the exact same technical approach visible in the two paintings under consideration: a skillful combination of an academic, solid and accurate rendering of the physiognomies or bodies, and an extremely free, almost “liquid” treatment of the fabrics and backgrounds. In his famous portraits of the Stuart family, such as the Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart and the Portrait of Henry Benedict Stuart, Blanchet displays an extraordinary mastery in depicting the precious textures of the robes and armor, illuminating the composition with vivid touches of light and vibrant color contrasts, showing us not only that he was a highly skilled portraitist, but also a refined orchestrator of complex decorative programs for the elite of the Grand Tour.

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