Charles-Marie-Jean-Baptist-François Marcotte d'Argenteuil

Marcotte, Charles

French, 1773 - 1864

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Small in scale within a towering room, a man wearing a white and gold robe sits or stands on a high, covered throne, surrounded by dozens of men in this nearly square painting. All the people appear to have light skin, and many wear religious robes or habits in red, black, or white. The walls of the room are mostly filled with paintings of people in landscapes or, on the entire wall to our right, are shown nude, floating in groups against a blue background. The lowest register on the wall to our left, to either side of the throne, is draped with hanging honey-brown or muted apricot-peach curtains, or is painted to look like hanging curtains. The throne’s canopy, like an awning, hovers two stories over the people gathered beneath it. It is scarlet red and decorated with thick gold bands and coats of arms. A white cloth with gold, floral designs hangs down the back of the canopy to the throne itself. The man on the throne wears a low, white cap over dark hair. He holds his hands together at his chest, just below a wide, jeweled brooch that holds the wide, gold panels of his robe together at his throat. The long robe sweeps down, over the step in front of him. Men in clerical robes, some with books and one holding a triangular hat, gather around the throne on a raised platform. To either side of the platform, rows of men stand, some also looking down at books. Closest to us, about a dozen people, including at least one female nun, are seen from the waist up along the bottom edge of the composition, standing outside the barrier enclosing the ranks. More people stand at an altar, the edge of which is visible along the right side of the canvas. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Ingres 1810 ROM.”
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel, 1814, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.23

Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1814 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.2.23

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Self-Portrait, 1822, graphite on wove paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1995.47.51

Self-Portrait

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1822 · graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1995.47.51

Shown from about the waist up, a man with pale, peachy skin, wearing a marine-blue greatcoat over several layers of clothing, looks out at us in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s body is angled to our left, and he looks at us from the corners of his dark brown, hooded eyes. He has an oval face with a slightly jutting chin, a long, straight nose, and his full-lipped mouth is lightly pursed. He is lit from our left, casting the right ear and side of his face in shadow. His chestnut-brown, wavy hair is short, and brushed forward over the ear we can see. Several shirts and coats are layered over his shoulders. Closest to his skin, a high-collared white shirt, with points reaching past his jawline, is tied with a wide, black neckcloth. Next is a custard-yellow garment, also with a high-neck, perhaps a vest. Over that he wears a brown coat with wide, pointed lapels. A bright, scarlet-red oval is fastened to one buttonhole on the lapel to our right, and a gold and rose-pink ornament peeks out from the bottom hem at his waist. Finally, the blue greatcoat has an elbow-length cape, and nearly falls off his shoulders. Fabric across the back of the collar is a hood lined with dark silver satin. He props his left elbow, to our right, on a table or ledge, and that wide cuff is rolled back over the white edge of this shirt. He wears a gold band on the pinky finger of that hand. The ledge is draped with a deep, marmalade-orange cloth. Gold tassels dangling from the end of a scrolled, bound document hangs off the edge of the ledge, near the man’s wrist. The background deepens from sage green along the lower left edge of the painting to fawn brown around the man’s head. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “Ingres. Pinx. Rom. 1810.”
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Marcotte d'Argenteuil, 1810, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.24

Marcotte d'Argenteuil

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1810 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.2.24

Bibliography

1864

  • "Obséques de M. Marcotte, Ancien Director Général de l'Administration des Forêts." Revue des eaux et fôrets (1864):100-105

1958

  • Naef, Hans. "Ingres Portraits of the Marcotte Familty." The Art Bulletin XL (1958): 336-345.

1977

  • Naef, Hans. "Die Familie Marcotte" in Die Bildniszeichnungern von J.-A.-D. Ingres 5 vols. Bern, 1977-1980:II:503-533