JEAN-BAPTISTE DE CHAMPAIGNE | The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen

Anonymous sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 16 June 1987, lot 22. 

B. Dorival, Supplément au Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre de Philippe de Champaigne, Paris 1992, cat. no. 83, p. 84, reproduced fig. 83 (as by Philippe de Champaigne and Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne).

Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne was born in Brussels but in 1643 he left for Paris to study under his uncle Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674). Though his early works are heavily influenced by his uncle, Jean-Baptiste left the studio for a tour of Italy in 1658 and after that gradually began to form his own style and receive his own royal commissions.  The present work still exhibits the influence of his uncle, and indeed it was previously published as a collaboration between the two artists (see Literature). 

We are grateful to Frédérique Lanoë for confirming the attribution to Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne based on photographs.