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Nymphe et satyre

Entered August 2024

 

Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. MI 1129

Oil on canvas

73.5 x 107.5

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Jupiter et Antiope

Nymphe dormant et surprise par un satyre

Nymphe endormie

Sleeping Nymph

Vénus endormie

 

 

RELATED PRINTS

 

Watteau's painting was etched in the same direction by the comte de Caylus. The legend beneath the image states simply, "Watteau In." and "C. Scu."  Adhémar mistakenly believed that the Caylus etching was based on a Watteau drawing in the Louvre but there is no such compositional drawing in the Louvre, only a study for the satyr, and that would not have provided a sufficient basis for the Caylus etching. In 1965 I foolishly followed Adhémar in thinking that this etching reflected a Watteau compositional drawing.

 

PROVENANCE

Héverlé (Belgium), collection of Léopold-Philippe-Charles-Joseph, duc d'Arenberg (1690-1754). A receipt, signed by Watteau and dated May 4, 1717, acknowledges that the artist received 200 livres from the duke's agent for two unnamed paintings. The duke had been in Paris in 1714, after the signing of the Treaty of Rastadt, and might have met Watteau and commissioned these works then. The painting remained with the family into the nineteenth century.

Paris, Hôtel de Bullion, April 17-18, 1826, collection of comte de S., lot 57: "WATTEAU. B. . . . Jupiter et Antiope, ou Nymphe dormant et surprise par un satyre. Wateau était éminemment coloriste: on peut en juger d'après ce charmant tableau."

Paris, with Simonet (Parisian auctioneer and dealer). It was supposedly acquired in Brussels in 1847 but it may have already been on the Paris market by 1826.

Paris, collection of Théodore Patureau (1798-1876; banker and member of the Académie royale d'Anvers). His sale, Brussels, April 20-21, 1857, lot 63: "WATTEAU (ANTOINE). NYMPHE ENDORMIE. Dans un paysage pittoresque et boisé, embelli à l'arrière-plan par quelques habitations et fabriques, et qui s'étend au loin au travers de collines couvertes de brousailles, de bouquets d'arbres élevés et de montagnes perdues à l'horizon, une nymphe repose couchée sur un monticule que recouvre  un épais gazon.
         Elle est plongée dans un sommeil tranquille et trompeur, tandis que Pan, la tête couronnée de pampres, soulève le voile léger qui lui dérobait son visage charmant, dont la vue le remplit d'amour.
         Ce groupe, d'un beau modelé, est largement éclairé par les rayons du jour que laissent passer entre elles les masses d'arbres qui s'élèvent à droite et à gauche de la composition.
         H. 86 cent. L. 1 mètre 11 cent. Toile. Provenant du château d'Héverlé et de la collection de feu M. le Prince Paul d'ARENBERG." Sold for 2,600 French francs to Bourdon, according to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the Bibliothèque nationale.

Boulogne-Billancourt, collection of baron James Mayer de Rothschild (1792-1868; banker). Rothschild's ownership is noted in Lejeune, Guide théorique et pratique (1864).

 Paris, with Bourlon de Sarty, His sale, Paris, May 4-5, 1865, lot 202: "WATTEAU (ANTOINE) . . . Nymphe endormie surprise par un Satyre. Haut. 87 cent.; larg. 112 cent. Collection du Pce Paul d'Arenberg et vente Patureau, 1857." Unsold.

Sale, Paris, March 9-11, 1868, Bourlon de Sarty collection, lot 44: "Watteau (Antoine) Nymphe endormie. Dans un paysage, la tête appuyée sur son bras, elle est couchée sur des draperies étendues sur le gazon. Un Satyre profitant des son sommeil, s'est doucement approché d'elle et soulève avec précaution  le voile qui la dérobe à sa vue. Collection dn [sic] prince Paul d'Aremberg [sic] et Vente Patureau, 1857."  Acquired by Horsin for 600 French francs.

Paris, collection of Simon Horsin-Deon [1812-1882; restorer).

Paris, collection of Dr. Louis La Caze (1798-1869; physician). The La Caze family donated the painting to the Louvre.  

 

 

EXHIBITIONS

Copenhagen, Charlottenborg, L'Art français au XVIIIe siècle (1935), cat. 258 (as Antoine Watteau, Jupiter et Antiope ou Nymphe et satyre, Musée du Louvre).

New York, Metropolitan Museum, French Painting and Sculpture of the 18th Century (1935), cat. 4 (as Jean Antoine Watteau, Jupiter and Antiope, lent by the Musée du Louvre).

Vienna,Oberes Belvedere, Kunst und Geist Frankreichs (1966),cat. 75, as Jean Antoine Watteau, Jupiter und Antiope oder Nymphe und Satyr, Musée National du Louvre).

Moscow and Leningrad, From Watteau to David (in Russian) (1978), cat. 21.

Washington, Paris, Berlin, Watteau 1684-1721 (1984), cat. P 36 (as Watteau, Nymph and Satyr or Jupiter and Antiope [Nymphe et satyre or Jupiter et Antiope], Musée du Louvre).

Lille, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Influence des anciens Pays-bas sur la peinture française, cat.120,

Paris, Musée du Louvre . Hommage aux donateurs,  première exposition temporaire présentée sous la cour Napoléon, exh. cat. (Paris: 1989).

St. Petersburg, Museum of Fine Arts, Anniversaire de l'Ermitage, (1989).

Bailey, The Loves of the Gods (1992), (as by Watteau, Jupiter and Antiope, Musée du Louvre).

Budapest, Mucsarnok-Kunsthalle.  Ombres et Lumières. Quatre siècles de peintures françaises 1600-2000  (2004).

Faroult and Eloy, La Collection La Caze CD-ROM (2007), M.I. 1129 (as by Watteau, Nymphe et satyrre, dit aussi Jupiter et Antiope).

London, Royal Academy, Rubens and His Legacy (2014), cat. 74 (as Watteau, Nymph and Satyr, or Jupiter and Antiope, Musée du Louvre).

Kyoto, Municipal Museum of Art. Peindre l'amour (2023), 58, 59, 225, 231, 244, 245, cat. 4 (as by Watteau, Nymphe et satyre, Musée du Louvre)

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Le Roy, Quelques notes (1859).

Mantz, "L'Ecole française" (1859), 350-51.

Lejeune, Guide théorique et pratique (1864), 1: 215.

Paris, Louvre, Tableaux légués par M. La Caze (1871), cat. 268.

Mantz, "La Collection La Caze" (1870), 12-13.

Goncourt, Catalogue raisonné (1875), 52.

Goncourt, L'Art du dix-huitième siècle (1880), 50.

Dohme, "Die Französische Schule des XVIII. Jahrhunderts" (1883), 234-35.

Mollet, Watteau (1883), 61.

Hannover, Watteau (1888), 81-83.

Mantz, Watteau (1892), 89, 148, 176.

Paris, Louvre, Catalogue sommaire (1892), cat. 991.

Phillips, Watteau (1895), 41.

Rosenberg, Watteau (1896), 49.

Besnus, Mes relations d'artiste (1898), 74.

Fourcaud, "L'Existence de Watteau" (1901), 255.

Staley, Watteau (1902), 28, 129.

Josz, Watteau (1903), 398-99.

Josz, Watteau (1904), 221.

Pilon, Watteau et son école (1912), 60, 75, 106, 109, 110, 111, 112.

Zimmermann, Watteau (1912), 43, 177.

Dacier, Vuaflart, and Hérold, Jean de Jullienne et les graveurs (1921-29), 1: 77, 154, 286; 2: 99; 3: 24, 72.

Brière, Louvre, catalogue de peintures (1922), cat. 991.

Dacier, "Devant la prétendue 'Antiope" (1923), 4-6.

Brière, Louvre, catalogue de peintures (1922), cat. 991.

Hourticq, La Vie des Images (1927), 203.

Réau, "Watteau" (1928), cat. 6.

Gillet, La Peinture au Musée du Louvre (1929), 33-34.

Brinckmann, Watteau (1943), 22.

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), 189, 196, ref. in cat. 102, cat. 180.

Mathey, "Le Rôle décisif des dessins" (1959), 49.

Mathey, Watteau, peintures réapparues (1959), 35-36, 66.

Levey, "A Watteau Rediscovered" (1964), 58.

Eidelberg, Watteau's Drawings (1965), 35-36.

Cailleux, "Newly Identified Drawings by Watteau" (1967), 59

Macchia and Montagni, L'opera completa di Watteau (1968), cat. 104.

Ferré, Watteau (1972), cat. B 56.

Compin and Reynaud, Catalogue des peintures (1972), 399.

Boerlin-Brodbeck, Watteau und das Theater (1973), 120, 231.

Posner, A Lady at Her Toilet (1973), 23, 29.

Bazin, "Enquête sur Watteau" (1974), 61.

 Paris, Louvre, Catalogue illustré (1974), cat. 917.

Cailleux, "A Strange Monument" (1975), 248.

Adhémar, "Watteau, les romans et l'imagerie de son temps" (1977), 171.

Bauer, Rokokomalerei (1980), 42.

Loch, "Jean-Etienne Liotard" (1980), 190.

Mirimonde, "Le Prétendue Antiope" (1980), 115.

Tomlinson, La Fête galante (1981), 48-49.

Roland Michel, Watteau (1981), cat. 160.

Posner, Watteau (1984), 79-80, 97, 208.

Washington, Paris, Berlin, Watteau 1684-1721 (1984), 241, cat. P. 36.

Roland Michel, Watteau (1984), 71, 152, 204, 221, 257, 269, 308.

Compin and Roquebert, Catalogue sommaire (1986), 286.

Zolotov, "Watteau: Iconosphère et personnalité d'artiste" (1987), 61.

Faillant-Dumas and Rioux, "Etude de quelques peintures" (1987), 131-32, 134.

Bergeon, "Quelques points" (1987), 135.

Moutsopoulos, "Les Structures de la temporalité" (1987), 146.

Démoris, "Watteau, le paysage et ses figures" (1987), 161.

Boerlin-Brodbeck, "La Figure assise dans un paysage" (1987), 165.

Le Coat, "Watteau et l'imaginaire social" (1987), 183.

Rosenberg and Prat, Watteau, Catalogue raisonné des dessins (1996), cats. 375, 376, G137.

Temperini, Watteau (2002), 50, cat. 39.

Michel, Le «célèbre Watteau» (2008), 69.

New York, Frick Collection, Watteau to Degas (2009).

Glorieux, Watteau (2011), 177.

Compin and Roquebert, Catalogue sommaire (1986), 4: 286.

Faroult and Eloy, La Collection La Caze CD-ROM (2007), 76.

Bailey et al. Watteau to Degas (2009), under cat. 4.

Faroult, Vogtherr, and Preti-Hamard, Delicious Decadence (2014), 24.

RELATED DRAWINGS

 

Of the two drawings that Watteau must have used for this composition—the ones for the satyr and the nymph—only one is extant: the study for the satyr. It is a vigorous red and black chalk sketch now in the Institut néerlandais, Paris (Rosenberg and Prat 376). The overall disposition of his body, the angle of his head, the extension of his right arm, and even the position of the fingers on his left hand established the basis of the image he painted. There is at least one other drawing of this model: a trois crayons study in the collection of the Musée du Louvre (Rosenberg and Prat 375). This second, heavily accented variant shows the man more erect, his arms arranged differently, but clearly intended for Nymphe et satyre. Were there additional studies in this series? In preparing for this unusual subject of nude bodies, Watteau may have felt the need to arm himself, just as he did when he prepared to paint the Crozat Seasons. Whereas normally he could find what he needed among his endless drawings of clothed figures, he had no such supply of nudes.

 

The figure of the nymph raises different questions. Surely there was a drawing for this figure, since, the artist referred to it again when he painted the same statue in his probably later canvas, Les Champs elysées now in the Wallace Collection. As has been noted by scholars, the recumbent nymph's pose—one leg tucked under the other, her arm hanging down lifelessly—is a configuration  that appears in several ancient Roman sculptures of Eros. While it is possible that Watteau posed his live model in imitation of the sculpture, that is an unnecessary complication. Following his normal practice, he may have drawn the statue and then used that sketch for Nymphe et satyre, as well as for the later Les Champs elysées. Commenting on the appearance of this nymph in the Wallace Collection, scholars have often remarked that Watteau translated his study of a nude woman into a sculpture but, in fact, it was probably an actual sculpture that he portrayed as such.

 

REMARKS

Nymphe et Satyre, one of Watteau's few mythological subjects, enjoys a privileged position in his oeuvre that has gone unchallenged. Although it was not included in Jean de Jullienne's Oeuvre gravé, its authenticity is assured by the etching from the hand of the comte de Caylus, as discussed above. Exceptionally, Adhémar demurred and claimed that the satyr was a later addition, painted by Nicolas Vleughels, but no other scholars share this strange opinion.

The most moot aspect of the Louvre painting has been its condition. It has often been charged that when the painting came into La Caze's possession,  he retouched it in various places as was his wont, especially the large tree branch in the foreground. However, he bought the painting only a few months before his death, and the tree branch figures quite clearly in the comte de Caylus' etching. Moreover, conservation analysis of the picture suggests that there is relatively little overpainting except at the edges.

In approaching the Louvre canvas, many scholars have discussed the possibility that it may have been an overdoor. Indeed, its point of view—as though seen from below, looking up—reinforces the idea that it might have served as an overdoor. Also, the way that the nymph's arm and left leg hang down into our space heightens the spatial illusion.

 

It has become traditional to compare Watteau's handling of this mythological subject with renderings by Old Masters such as Correggio, Van Dyck, and Rubens. In that tradition, the vulnerable maiden is displayed across the lower portion of the canvas, while above a muscular god pulls back her drapery and menacingly leers down on her exposed body. Watteau may have been aware of such works but how different his version is, especially its delicacy.

The exact subject of Watteau's composition is also open to question. The etching by the comte de Caylus bears no helpful title. When the canvas first reappeared in public in the nineteenth century, it was variously called "Nymphe endormie" or "Jupiter and Antiope." Ultimately the latter title won out, and was employed by most scholar, not least by its new guardian, the Musée du Louvre. There were a few variants, but "Jupiter et Antiope" remained its accepted title until the 1920s. At that point, equivocation set in, and Nymphe et satyre was offered as an alternative form, often side by side with Jupiter et Antiope. This was how it was listed by Gillet, Adhémar, Ferré, Montagni and Macchia, the 1984 tricentennial catalogue, Bailey, Glorieux, and Faroult and Eloy. We have chosen to use the more generic form of Nymphe et satyre, primarily because none of Jupiter's identifying emblems, such as an eagle or a thunderbolt, are depicted.

Scholars agree that Nymphe et satyre is one of the artist's mature works, but there is little consensus about its date of execution. Mathey dated it 1712, Brookner chose 1712-1714, Mathey proposed 1713, Posner focused on 1714, Montagni and Macchia as well as Temperini and Glorieux preferred 1715, Bailey and Faroult and Eloy selected 1715-16, Adhémar and Roland Michel placed it in 1716, while Zimmerman favored 1716-1718. Grasselli dated the drawings of the satyr to late 1715 and into 1716, a date proposed as well by Rosenberg and Prat. While a wide span of years has been proposed, there is general agreement that the Nymphe et satyre was painted before the Louvre Pèlerinage. Except for Bailey, none of these opinions take into account the receipt that Watteau signed for the agent to the duc d'Arenburg.