Alexandre Cabanel

John W. Mackay, New York (commissioned directly from the artist in 1883)
Private Collection, Michigan and Florida (possibly acquired in Europe circa 1950)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Paris, Exposition triennale, 1883, no. 131

Claude Vento (pseudonym of Alice Laincel), Les Peintres de la femme, Paris, 1888, pp. 208-9
Armand (Inventoire Armand), Inventaire des dessins, photographies et gravures relatifs à l'histoire générale de l'art: Légués au département des Estampes de la Bibliothèque nationale par M. A. Armand, rédigé par M. François Courboin, Lille, 1895, vol. 1, nos. 10374, 10375, illustrated
Jean Nougaret, "Alexandre Cabanel. Sa vie, son oeuvre, essai de catalogue," unpublished dissertation, Montpellier, 1962, p. 169, no. 419
Jean Nougaret, "Chronologie," Alexandre Cabanel, 1823-1889, La tradition du beau, exh. cat., Musée Fabre de Montpellier, 2010, p. 445 and in the "Catalogue sommaire de l'oeuvre peint d'Alexandre Cabanel," p. 472, no. 420, the engraving illustrated  

The following condition report was kindly provided by Fine Art Conservation and Restoration Inc.: Almost the entire surface has been covered by later overpaint of very poor quality. Cleaning trials were undertaken in some locations and revealed very fine quality of the original under the overpaint although a number of paint losses in the original were revealed. The extent of the paint losses to the original is hard to estimate because of the overall scale of the overpaint. Tests revealed that it was possible to remove the overpaint without causing any damage to the underlying original paint. With some paintings it is possible to see the original through the overpaint by using x-radiography, but in this case the amount of white lead in the overpaint would inhibit any clear reading of the original. In its present state the painting has a very poor appearance and does not allow one to see the high quality of Cabanel's underlying original paint. It is felt that with the painting's present poor appearance there is little choice but to remove the gross overpaint to reveal the original, but to expect that there will be some losses to the original. These losses can be inpainted to match the original.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

A recent selective cleaning of the painting has revealed various areas of the artist’s original palette.