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Reverend Father Giovanni Antonio Philippini
Philippe de Champaigne (French, 1602–1674)
1651
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
73.3 x 59.7 cm (28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of William A. Coolidge
Accession Number1993.35
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPaintings
Born in Flanders, Philippe de Champaigne worked in France as court painter to Marie de' Medici, King Louis XIII, and Cardinal Richelieu. The idea of including a stone balustrade or parapet in front of the sitter was popularized by sixteenth-century Venetian painters. Champaigne used it to display his ability to paint textures, and also to heighten the illusionism of the image. The Latin inscription reads, "The Reverend Father Giovanni Antonio Filippini, a Roman, Prior General of the entire Carmelite order, in his 52nd year in the year of our Lord 1651, in which he came to France."
Inscriptionsat the bottom: R.P.Joan. Antoni Philippin. Roma. Prior Generalis / toitus ordinis Carmelitar. anno aetatis. 52 / Domini 1651. quo in Galliam venit. signed, lower right: Ph De Champaigne Pinxit 1651
ProvenanceUntil 1674, the artist [see note 1]; probably from the artist to Nicholas de Plattemontagne (b. 1631 - d. 1706), Paris [see note 2]. Possibly Jean-Louis Laneuville (b. 1748 - d. 1826), Paris; June 5-7, 1826, possibly posthumous Laneuville sale, Paris, lot 70 [see note 3]. 1951, sold by or through the Galerie Charpentier, Paris, to M. Knoedler and Co., Paris and New York (stock no. A4675) [see note 4]; May 9, 1958, sold by Knoedler to William A. Coolidge (b. 1901 - d. 1992), Topsfield and Cambridge, MA; 1993, bequest of William A. Coolidge to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 27, 1993)
NOTES:
[1] Philippe de Champaigne painted two versions of this portrait of Giovanni Antonio Philippini, a Carmelite prior, during the latter's visit to Paris in 1651. One version belonged to the sitter and was given to his convent of San Martino ai Monti, Rome, where it remains. The other version remained with the artist until his death in 1674, and was included in his posthumous inventory (August 17, 1674). See Bernard Dorival, "Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674. La vie, l'oeuvre, et le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre" (Paris, 1976), 111-112, cat. no. 201.
[2] Nicolas de Plattemontagne was Champaigne's pupil. According to Dorival 1976 (as above, n. 1), this painting was listed in his posthumous inventory.
[3] Lot 70 in this auction has been tentatively identified with the MFA painting; it is described as a portrait of a "man of the church, wearing a cross of St. Andrew on his cowl. ...Age 58." The man in the MFA painting does not wear a cross, and his age is given as 52.
[4] Getty Provenance Index, M. Knoedler and Co. records, painting stock book 9, p. 228, no. 4675, as "Superieur General de l'Ordre de Carmes." Knoedler lent the painting to the exhibition "Philippe de Champaigne" (Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, 1952), cat. no. 39, pp. 69-70.
NOTES:
[1] Philippe de Champaigne painted two versions of this portrait of Giovanni Antonio Philippini, a Carmelite prior, during the latter's visit to Paris in 1651. One version belonged to the sitter and was given to his convent of San Martino ai Monti, Rome, where it remains. The other version remained with the artist until his death in 1674, and was included in his posthumous inventory (August 17, 1674). See Bernard Dorival, "Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674. La vie, l'oeuvre, et le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre" (Paris, 1976), 111-112, cat. no. 201.
[2] Nicolas de Plattemontagne was Champaigne's pupil. According to Dorival 1976 (as above, n. 1), this painting was listed in his posthumous inventory.
[3] Lot 70 in this auction has been tentatively identified with the MFA painting; it is described as a portrait of a "man of the church, wearing a cross of St. Andrew on his cowl. ...Age 58." The man in the MFA painting does not wear a cross, and his age is given as 52.
[4] Getty Provenance Index, M. Knoedler and Co. records, painting stock book 9, p. 228, no. 4675, as "Superieur General de l'Ordre de Carmes." Knoedler lent the painting to the exhibition "Philippe de Champaigne" (Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, 1952), cat. no. 39, pp. 69-70.