The Works Of Maurice Quentin De La Tour

( Originally Published 1907 )

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLATES

'MADAME DE POMPADOUR' PLATE I

AT the Salon of 1755 La Tour exhibited but one pastel—the full-length portrait of Madame de Pompadour here reproduced, for which he had received the then princely sum of 24,000 francs. Upon entering the room in the Louvre where this work now hangs, all eyes are at once attracted by its beauty. Madame de Pompadour, dressed in a rich robe of white satin covered with an elaborately flowered design in gold and various colors, with lace ruffles in her elbow-sleeves and bows of pale lavender ribbon in the front of her low-cut bodice, is seated beside a table on which are placed a globe, a number of volumes and engravings—all indicative of the tastes, at once serious and sentimental, of the favorite of Louis xv. In her hands she lightly holds a music-book, from whose pages she has turned as if attracted by some sound. Her head, with its short wavy hair and little curls arranged in rows, their blond tint scarce hidden beneath a slight covering of powder, is relieved against a background of light blue—the prevailing hue of this marvelous pastel, which Sainte-Beuve has called "a melody even more than a harmony."

"The beauty of the accessories, and the astonishing skill with which they are rendered," says Lady Dilke, "constitute the chief attraction of this celebrated portrait, for the head of the marquise herself recalls D'Argenson's criticism of her charms, `blonde and white, but without distinctive features,' and not even the fair bloom in which La Tour's magic has enveloped his subject can prevent the woman herself from suffering eclipse. The pretty face of the favorite fades as we detail the lovely patterning of her skirts, read the titles of her books, and marvel at the exquisite perfection with which the instruments which indicate her various accomplishments are brought before us. . . . We have been told that `art more than nature modeled the physiognomy of Madame de Pompadour,' and it is possibly due to the artificial bearing and expression of his sitter that we miss in this—the greatest page which La Tour has left us, which may indeed be held to be the greatest triumph of his art—that air of reality and individuality which delights us in so many of his lesser works."

'MARIE-JOSÈPHE OF SAXONY, DAUPHINESS OF FRANCE' PLATE II

MARIE-JOSÈPHE, daughter of Augustus III., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was just past fifteen when, in February, 1747, she was married to the dauphin, son of Louis xv., King of France. Although not handsome, she was by no means unattractive in appearance. Her face, with its large blue eyes, full lips, and somewhat prominent nose, was offset by beautiful blond hair; unfortunately, her fair complexion was concealed, ac-cording to the fashion of the day, beneath a thick coating of paint.

Brought up in the art-loving atmosphere of the court of Saxony, Marie-Josèphe, young though she was, possessed discriminating taste in matters pertaining to art, and when it was proposed that her portrait should be painted, she selected La Tour for the task.

"Not in full dress, nor with all the decorations she was entitled to wear, do we see the dauphiness in La Tour's pastel of 1749," writes Casimir Stryienski, "but so modestly attired that although she has an air of distinction we should never suppose that she belonged to the court circle. Her simple gown of white Indian damask is trimmed with gold lace and bows of gray-blue ribbon, and on her head is a little cap with strings of the same shade of blue. A diamond decoration, the only insignia of royalty, is fastened to her bodice with a knot of pink. The face lacks animation, the expression is sad. Hanging as this portrait does in the Dresden Gallery as a pendant to La Tour's pastel of Marshal Saxe (see plate v), it seems cold by comparison with the look of life that animates the face of the soldier. This, however, is but an indication of the sincerity of La Tour's talent. He never gave his sitters conventional smiles, and therefore all the sorrow that then oppressed the heart of the princess, who was not beloved by her young husband, is here so truly rendered that the portrait becomes a psychological document epitomizing the sadness of the dauphiness during the early years of her residence in France."

'LOUIS XV., KING OF FRANCE' PLATE III

LA TOUR has here represented the king of France, Louis xv., in armor, wearing diagonally across his breast the blue ribbon of the Order of the Holy Ghost and suspended about his neck that of the Golden Fleece. Over his right shoulder is a mantle embroidered with fleurs-de-lis and richly edged and lined with ermine. His white powdered wig, tied with a ribbon at the back of the neck, contrasts with his dark eyes.

The portrait, while lacking in the quality of keen interpretation of character which stamps La Tour's renderings of less august personages, exemplifies the artist's admirable power of drawing, his attention to and finish of detail, and his complete mastery of technique. It hangs in the pastel collection in the Louvre, Paris, and measures twenty-five and a half inches high by twenty-one and a half inches wide.

'PORTRAIT OF MANELLI' PLATE IV

THIS portrait, now in the Museum of La Tour at Saint-Quentin, represents Manelli, leading buffoon in the troupe of Italian opera-singers whose appearance in Paris divided society there into two opposite factions. One of these factions, formed of Madame de Pompadour and all the great world, including royalty itself, declared in favor of French music, while the other, composed of true connoisseurs, men of taste and talent, enthusiastically embraced the cause of the foreigners. In such a division La Tour, as might be supposed, unhesitatingly placed himself in the ranks of the last-named party, and, as the Italian troupe was eventually banished by royal command, the exhibition at the Salon of 1753 of his portrait of Manelli was in a way an act of opposition to the king, wholly in conformity with the audacious artist's independent spirit.

No portrait by his hand is more characteristic of La Tour's genius than is this wonderful pastel of Manelli, in his blue coat ornamented with gold bands and buttons, his gay salmon-pink ribbons, and powdered wig fantastically arranged, and with his comical features distorted in a laughing grimace. So true to life, so representative of the class to which he belongs is his marvelously drawn face, that we feel the justice of the words of La Tour's contemporary, Du Plaquet, who declared that even if Manelli were divested of his theatrical costume and ridiculous wig, he would none the less remain unmistakably a typical Italian clown.

'PORTRAIT OF MARSHAL SAXE' PLATE V

COUNT MAURICE of Saxony, better known as Marshal Saxe, was born at Goslar, Germany, in 1696, and died in France, at the Chateau of Chambord, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. From his earliest youth he was a soldier, serving under Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession, and under Prince Eugene against the Turks. At twenty-four he entered the service of the French army, and was finally, in 1747, made marshal-general of France. His career was marked by a series of victories, among the most important of which were those of Fontenoy, Raucoux, and Laffeld. A hand-some man and endowed with great powers of fascination, Maurice of Saxony was as typical of the age in which he lived as was the artist whose portrait of him is here reproduced. Indeed, as one of La Tour's biographers has said, "The conqueror of Fontenoy and the pastellist of Saint-Quentin were kindred spirits. Both were full of wit and imagination, fond of the fair sex, outspoken in their talk, and it may readily be imagined that when the marshal posed before La Tour's easel, the conversations which took place did not lack spice."

La Tour is known to have drawn several portraits of Marshal Saxe; one is in the Museum at Saint-Quentin, one is in the Louvre, another is in private possession, while the one here given is in the pastel room of the Royal Gallery, Dresden. In this striking portrait Maurice of Saxony wears a red coat bordered with brown fur. His blue eyes with their heavy brows, his powdered hair, well-formed nose and mouth, and lifelike expression are all rendered with a strength and justness which make this pastel one of the finest examples of La Tour's work.

'THE ABBE. HUBER' PLATE VI

LA TOUR was at the zenith of his powers and success in 1742, the year in which he achieved that triumph of the art of pastel, the portrait of the Abbé Huber here reproduced. This famous work, regarded by many as the artist's masterpiece, is now in the Museum at Saint-Quentin. It measures two feet seven inches high by three feet three inches wide.

The Abbé Huber, a close friend of the artist's, is here represented in a dark gray coat and wearing a gray powdered wig. Seated on the edge of an arm-chair, he rests his elbow upon a table covered with greenish blue damask, as he peruses the pages of a thick volume bound in calf and with light red edges supported upon two large books before him. That the light from its candles may fall upon his page, a two-branched gilded candlestick has been placed upon a box close by, but so absorbed is the abbé in his reading that he is entirely unmindful of the flaring flame of one of the candles, and also of the fact that its mate has just gone out, and amidst a cascade of melted wax is sending forth from its wick ring after ring of dark smoke.

Such is the simple subject of this marvelously lifelike picture. "An abbé, a book, and two candles—of these," write the De Goncourts, "La Tour, with the beauty of truth and the charm of light, has created a masterpiece which raises a pastel almost to the plane of a Rembrandt."

'MARIE LECZINSKA, QUEEN OF FRANCE' PLATE VII

LA TOUR'S famous portrait of Marie Leczinska, the Polish' princess who became the wife of Louis xv., King of France, was exhibited at the Salon of 1748, and is now in the Louvre, Paris.

"It is delicious in the soft and beautiful shading of the face," say the De Goncourts, "in the modeling of the tender flesh, the rendering of the delicate complexion—the complexion of a recluse—on which the light falls gently and which is brought into harmonious relation with the prevailing tone by little suggestions of pure yellow in the bluish notes of the half-tints. In the kindly expression of the face lurks a slight smile, skilfully rendered, which plays about the corners of the mouth. The light touch of the pastel, hardly more than a glazing of the crayon, so to speak, imparts to the whole head the transparency of living flesh. In the much-trimmed dress, all adorned with furbelows and ornaments intermingled with chenille, braid, gold, and frills of lace, marked at intervals with bunches of some kind of passementerie, the pastellist has achieved wonders in skill of execution."

This portrait of Marie Leczinska was regarded as the best of the many likenesses of the queen, and we are told that in painting his large state portrait of her, Vanloo copied the face from the pastel by La Tour.

'PORTRAIT OF LOUIS DE SILVESTRE' PLATE VIII

THIS famous pastel, now one of the treasures of the Museum at Saint-Quentin, was exhibited at the Salon of 1753, where it excited great admiration. It represents the painter Louis de Silvestre, director of the French Royal Academy in 1752.

The De Goncourts characterize this work as "an admirable study, in which art has with all sincerity faithfully portrayed the face of an old man—the clear cold tints of aged flesh, the delicate peach-like tone of the complexion, the furrows and wrinkles caused by an accumulation of years, the deep lines in the forehead, the loose flabbiness of the cheeks and chin, that absence of firmness in the features which is peculiar to old age—all this may be seen in the countenance of this octogenarian."

In addition to the strong modeling and vigorous handling of this portrait, it is interesting as an example of La Tour's consummate skill in the use of color. The pale lavender of the turban is brought into harmonious relation with the light blue of the dressing-gown by means of the touches of pinkish-gray which form a vague, flower-like pattern over its surface. An easel, on which is placed an unfinished canvas covered with blue sky, stands at one side. The whole is relieved against a dark gray background.

'LOUIS, DAUPHIN OF FRANCE' PLATE IX

LOUIS, dauphin of France, son of Louis xv., is shown in this portrait at the age of eight or ten. He wears a rose-colored coat crossed from right to left by the broad blue watered ribbon of the Order of the Holy Ghost, the cross of the same order being fastened on his left side. His hair is powdered white, and is tied at the back with a bow of ribbon.

Born in 1729, the dauphin was married at sixteen to the youngest daughter of Philip v., King of Spain. By the death of this princess a year later, he was left a widower, and accordingly a second marriage was promptly arranged, the choice falling upon Marie-Josèphe of Saxony (see plate ii). As he himself did not outlive the king, his father, the eldest of the three sons born of his second marriage succeeded to the title of dauphin and eventually to the throne of France as Louis xvi.

The pastel here reproduced measures twenty inches high by eighteen inches wide. It is now in the Louvre, Paris.

'TWO STUDIES OF HEADS' PLATE X

" IN their life and freshness," writes M. Louis Gonse, "nothing could be more precious nor more charming than La Tour's `preparations'—those studies which he made directly from life, in all the enthusiasm of inspiration, and which, later, he used in constructing his finished portraits. It is in these spontaneous creations that his genius is seen to be unique, that it shines in all its force and brilliancy, with its inequalities, its daring ventures, and its irresistible and surprising beauties."

The two studies reproduced in plate x are among the most attractive of the many examples of La Tour's "preparations" in the Museum at Saint-Quentin. Drawn in crayon on blue paper measuring some fifteen inches high by twelve inches wide, these fair smiling faces are fascinating by reason of the strong yet delicate quality of life with which the artist in a few telling lines has endowed them.

No name has come down to us to reveal the identity of this woman, charming in her tranquil beauty, with her red lips curved in an inscrutable smile, her dark eyes and level brows, and gray powdered hair in which a touch of color is given by a knot of blue ribbon. Equally unknown is the young girl, and even more lovely. The soft, rosy flesh, the rounded outline of the face, the fair skin and slightly powdered hair, the look of innocent surprise, and here, too, the smile about the red lips, and reflected in the blue eyes with their delicately penciled dark brows,—all these La Tour has made immortal on this bit of faded blue paper with a few strokes of his magic pencil.

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PASTELS BY LA TOUR IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

FRANCE. AiX, MUSEUM: The Duc de Villars — AMIENS, MUSEUM OF PICARDY: Portrait of La Tour (see page 148) — DIJON, MUSEUM: Portrait of La Tour— LAON, Museum: President Hénault — PARIS, LOUVRE: Louis xv (Plate iii); Marie Leczinska (Plate vii); Louis, Dauphin of France (Plate ix); Louis, Dauphin of France; Marie-Josèphe of Saxony; Marshal Saxe; Mme. de Pompadour; Ph. Orry, Comte de Vignory; The Painter Chardin; René Fremin; Portrait of La Tour— SAINT-QUENTIN, MUSEUM: The Abbé Huber (Plate vi); Grimod de la Reynière; Prince Xavier of Saxony; The Marquis de Voyer d'Argenson; Diogenes (study); Louis de Silvestre; The Painter Vernezobre; Madame de la Pouplinière; Portrait of Dupeuch; Jean Monnet; Le Riche de La Pouplinière; Jean-Jacques Rousseau; François Dachery; Charles Parrocel; Portrait of Manelli (Plate iv); Charles Maron; Jean Restout; Study for Portrait of Dachery; De Neuville; Charles Duclos; Study of a Man; The Abbé Pommyer; The Abbé Le Blanc; Father Emmanuel; Marshal Saxe; The Economist Forbonnais; Young Girl with a Dove and Young Girl with a Crown (copies by La Tour of pastels by Rosalba Carriera); Boy Drinking (copy by La Tour of a picture by Murillo); Baroness Van Tuyll; A Head (copy by La Tour); Madame Boétte de Saint-Leger; Louis, Dauphin of France; The Painter Chardin; Mlle. Puvigné; Study of a Head said to be Jean Monnet; Mme. Roussel (?); Sketch for Portrait of Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon; Christine of Saxony (?); M. de Julienne; Head of a Woman; An Unknown Man (sketch); Mme. Massé; The Duc de Bourgogne; Mme. du Barry (?); Prince Clement of Saxony; Study of Head of Unknown Woman (see plate x); Study of Head of Young Girl (see plate x); Study for Portrait of Bailiff of Breteuil; Study for Portrait of Marie-Josèphe of Saxony; Study for Portrait of Monmartel; The Dancer, Mlle. Camargo; Study for Portrait of Marie Leczinska; Eight Studies of Heads of Unknown Women; Study for Portrait of Mlle. Dangeville; Mlle. Clairon; Portrait of La Tour; Mlle. Fel (study); Three Studies of Heads; Study for Portrait of Louis xv.; Study for Portrait of Mme. de Pompadour; Six Studies of Heads of Unknown Men; The Actress Mme. Favart (study); Study for Portrait of Marie-Josèphe of Saxony; Jean Le Rond d' Alembert; Marshal of Lowendal (?); Study for Portrait of Mme. Rougeau; Study for Portrait of Mme. de Pompadour; The Dauphiness and the Duc de Bourgogne—GERMANY. DRESDEN, ROYAL GALLERY: Marie-Josèphe of Saxony (Plate il); Marshal Saxe SWITZERLAND. GENEVA, MUSEUM: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

LA TOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES DEALING WITH LA TOUR

ALEXANDRE, A. Histoire populaire de la peinture: école française. Paris [1893] —BENGESCO, M. La Tour (in La Grande Encyclopédie). Paris, 1886-1902—BLANC, C. Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles: école française. Paris, 1862 —BLANC, C. Grammaire des arts du dessin. Paris, 1867 — BUCELLY D'ESTRÉES. De La Tour. Paris, 1831 — CHAMPFLEURY. Les peintres de Laon et de Saint-Quentin. Paris, 1855 — CHAMPFLEURY. La Tour. Paris, 1886 — CHENNEVIÈRES, P. DE. Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. Paris, 1854—Correspondance de M.–Q; de La Tour, suivie de documents nouveaux. Paris, 1885 —DESMAZE, C. L'oeuvre du peintre Delatour à Saint-Quentin. Saint-Quentin and Paris, 1877 DESMAZE, C. Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, peintre du roi Louis xv. Paris, 1854 —DESMAZE, C. Le reliquaire de M. -Q de La Tour, sa correspondance et son oeuvre. Paris, 1874—DIDEROT, D. Salons (in OEuvres complètes). Paris, 1821 — DILKE, E. F. S. French Painters of the XVIIIth Century. London, 1899 —Du PLAQUET. Éloge historique de Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. Saint-Quentin and Paris, 1788 — FLEURY, E. Catalogue raisonné de la collection M.–Q. de La Tour à Saint-Quentin. Saint-Quentin, 1904 — GONCOURT, E. and J. de. L'art du dix-huitième siècle. Paris, 1881–1882—GONSE, L. Les chefs-d'oeuvre des Musées de France. Paris, 1900—GUIFFREY, J. Madame de Pompadour (in Jouin's Chefs-d'oeuvre). Paris, 1895 - HOUS-SAYE, A. Galerie du XVIIIe siècle. Paris, 1890—LAPAUZE, H. La Tour au Musée de Saint-Quentin. Paris, 1904—LAPAUZE, H. Mélanges sur l'art français. Paris, 1905 —LAPAUZE, H. Les pastels de Maurice-Quentin de La Tour à Saint-Quentin (avec une préface par G. Larroumet). Paris [1899] —LECOCQ, G. Documents inédits sur M.-Q. de La Tour. Saint-Quentin, 1876 — MARIETTE, P. J. Abecedario. Paris, 1859–1860—MARSY, A. DE. Maurice-Quentin de La Tour. [Saint-Quentin, 1874] - MERSON, O. La peinture française au XVIIe siècle et au XVIIIe. Paris[1900]—PATOUX, A. L'oeuvre de M. de La Tour au Musée de Saint-Quentin. Saint-Quentin, 1882—PINSET, R., AND d'AURIAC, J. Histoire du portrait en France. Paris, 1884—REISET, F. Notice des dessins, cartons, pastels, etc., au Musée du Louvre. Paris [1878–1880] —SAINTEBEUVE, C.-A. Causeries du lundi. Paris. 1851–1862—TOURNEUX, M. La Tour. Paris [1904]—WYZEWA, T. DE, AND PERREAU, X. Les grands peintres de la France. Paris, 1890.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES