CHARLES DE LA FOSSE | God the Father and the Evangelist Symbols (or The Vision of Ezechiel)

Gallery Marc Larrère, Paris, 2005.

C. Gustin-Gomez, Charles de La Fosse, 1636-1716 : le maître des Modernes, vol. 2, Paris 2006, p. 17, under cat. P. 20.

L’œuvre est moins jaune que dans l’illustration du catalogue. A l’œil nu : Le tableau apparaît dans un état de conservation satisfaisant. Il a fait l’objet d’un rentoilage ancien, un peu fort. On remarque un ancien vernis épais et encrassé. Une restauration sur le torse de Dieu le Père est visible et une autre, plus petite, se trouve à droite de sa tête ; une dernière se trouve sur le nuage. Des traces d’usure semblent visibles au niveau du bœuf. Le tableau est encrassé et l’on aperçoit très légèrement la marque du châssis. Il semblerait qu’il y ait un repentir dans le triangle au-dessus de la tête de Dieu le Père. A la lampe U.V. : On remarque des restaurations sur les quatre bords. Quelques retouches sont présentes au niveau du bœuf, de la chevelure de l’ange à droite (verticale, ca. 3 cm). On observe la restauration sur le torse, préalablement mentionnée, et quelques retouches dans les fonds et sur le coude gauche de Dieu le Père, ainsi qu’une restauration dans le drapé à gauche. Vendu avec un cadre en bois anciennement doré. The actual painting seems less yellowed tone than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The painting is overall in a fair condition. With the naked eye: The canvas has been relined (old relining, a bit strong). It is covered with an old and dirty varnish layer which seems to be quite thick. A retouching is visible on God’s torso, another one is to the right of his head, and there is also one in the cloud. Wear patterns seems to be visible around the ox. The painting is somewhat dirty and we can slightly observe the stretcher marks. A pentimento could have been done above the head of God (the triangle). Inspection under UV light : There are restorations along the four edges. Some retouchings are located on the ox and around angel’s hair on the right (vertical, ca. 3 cm). The damage on the figure of God torso has been retouched. Other retouchings are located on the backgrounds and on the left elbow of God. A restoration has been done on the clothing on the left. Offered with a gilt wood frame.
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Thanks to the intervention of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Charles de La Fosse received a pension from Louis XIV during his sojourn in Italy from 1659-1664 to study the Renaissance masters. The source of this representation of God the Father is a fresco by Pietro da Cortona [1] in the church of Santa Bibiana in Rome. The general layout of the composition is very clearly inspired by Raphael's Vision of Ezekiel in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence [2]. In the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet recounts his vision of the heavenly chariot pulled by the tetramorph, which has been interpreted in the Christian tradition as a prefiguration of the four Evangelists. Charles de La Fosse adopted Raphael's iconography, according to which God appears in the heavens supported by an eagle, an angel, an ox and a lion.

On the recommendation of Le Brun, the decorative scheme for the ceiling of the marriage chapel of the church of Saint-Eustache in Paris was entrusted to the artist upon his return from Italy. In accordance with the commission, he depicted the Eternal Father giving his blessing, accompanied by the four Evangelists. In 1752, the chapel was demolished following the refitting of the façade. Although it was destroyed, the work is known to us through replicas, some of which are autograph [3]. The relationship between them and the destroyed painting seems clear if we accept that the Evangelists were in the end replaced by their symbols. If the tondo version seems to be the preparatory sketch for the final ceiling, the other versions, all rectangular in format, may be variants, on account of their reduced size, either autograph or workshop pieces.

Clémentine Gustin-Gomez (see Literature) compares the conception of the work to the style of Charles Le Brun, to which La Fosse was still close at the beginning of his career, and dates this painting to the late 1660s-early 1670s. Reflecting in their design and their execution the references acquired during his stay in Rome, La Fosse's autograph replicas testify to the success of, and the pride he took in, the compositions he created for the marriage chapel at Saint-Eustache that marked the beginning of his official career in Paris.

[1] Pietro Berrettini, called Pietro da Cortona, fresco, Rome, Chiesa di Santa Bibiana.
[2] Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphaël, The Vision of Ezechiel, 1518, oil on panel, 40.7 x 29.5 cm, Florence, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina.
[3] Charles de La Fosse, God the Father and the Evangelist Symbols, oil on canvas, diam. 85 cm, Dunkerque, musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. P.81.4 ; Charles de La Fosse, God the Father and the Evangelist Symbols, paper laid down on canvas, 82 x 64 cm, private collection, Paris; Studio of Charles de La Fosse, God the Father and the Evangelist Symbols, oil on canvas, 81.8 x 66 cm, Christie's New York, 23 January 2004, lot 191.