The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, c. 1600

[1] No. 1352 in the sale catalogue of Mme. Dubois-Jourdain’s celebrated cabinet of curiosities was a pair of bronze reliefs described as “Le Martyr de S. Etienne & la Conversion de S. Paul, en bronze de relief, sous verre & bordure noire” (the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen and the Conversion of Saint Paul, in bronze relief, under glass and black frame). While the Saint Paul relief seems to have been relatively popular, with numerous other versions existing (including one in the Molinari Collection at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME and another in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (P18759)), the Saint Stephen relief is relatively rare. Even rarer is to find the two kept in the same collection as a pair. This rarity, combined with the lightened patina around the edges of both NGA reliefs, indicating they had once been framed, suggests the NGA pair could well have been Mme. Dubois-Jourdain’s framed plaquettes.

[2] According to the annotation for no. 1352 in the catalogue held at the library of the British Museum Prints and Drawings Study Room (page copy in NGA curatorial file), the buyer was “Labée Valée,” probably meaning L’Abbé Valée or a variant thereof such as Vallet. This buyer has not yet been identified; another lot, 1432, was seemingly sold to the same buyer, spelled “Labée Valet.” This buyer is not to be confused with the priest and politician Abbé Vallet [1754-1828, given name Claude Benjamin] whose birth year makes him too young in 1766 to have been either a clergyman or a purchaser at the auction.

[3] Edrei inventory number 1 is painted in red on the verso of both this and the Saint Paul, indicating they were the collector’s first purchase and purchased together as a pair. Edrei began recording the sources and dates for his purchases in 1995, starting with no. 25 in his inventory.