法國，隆格多克，約1525 - 1530年

Pierre Potier de la Terrasse, Château de la Terrasse or Château Saint-Élix, Languedoc, by 1549, by repute
By descent to Eugène, Marquis d'Hautpoul-Seyre, Toulouse, by 1875
Thence by descent, until 1885
Henri Rachou, former curator of the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, from 1885
Thence by descent, until 1972

 

Wildenstein & Company, New York, The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein’s Presence in New York, 26 October 2005- 6 January 2006, no. 3

M. de Bévotte, La Sculpture à la fin de la période gothique dans la région de Toulouse, d'Albi et de Rodez (1400-1520), Paris, 1936, pp. 41-42 and 48, pl. XIb
W.H. Forsyth, The Pietà in French Late Gothic Sculpture: Regional Variations, New York, 1995, p. 178

General wear, surface abrasion and losses, including around edge of base. Restorations include: portions of the Virgin's nose, chin and knuckles on her left hand; Christ's right hand, feet and left cheek, the Magdalene's nose, her upper lip, the thumb of her left hand, two strands of her turban and the lower part of her sleeve; the very top of St. John's cranium, the bottom of his right sleeve and a portion of his cloak at the lower left. The restorations appear to be quite old and were executed with great care. Losses to part of Christ's nose, the thorns in the crown (which were probably in wood) and the Magdalene's ointment jar. The work is beautifully carved and in stable condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The remarkably composed and dignified figure of the Virgin commands this profoundly evocative sculpture. In considering the deposition of Christ from the cross and his entombment, there was believed to have been a moment when Mary, in her grief, took the body of Christ on her lap. The first Pietà appeared in Germany in the late 13^thcentury, known as the ‘Vesperbild’, and this representation became a popular devotional image. Here, the figures of St. John and the Magdalene join in the Virgin’s sorrow as she cradles the body of her son.

In sharp contrast to the anguish fundamental to this moment of the Passion, the sculptor of the present group skillfully conveys a sense of quiet majesty. The hood of drapery that encloses the Virgin’s head and envelopes her body, and the languid, generous folds of the mantel, underscore this moment of piety.  At the same time, the sculptor has skillfully juxtaposed the carving of these gentle undulating, planar folds of fabric with the sharp, tight, parallel folds of Christ’s loincloth,  St. John’s stole and the Magdalene’s shawl, creating dynamic plays of light and shadow to  denote the underlying drama of the scene.

In his examination of late medieval French regional variations on the Pietà in sculpture, William Forsyth (op.cit., p. 123) notes that works from the Languedoc region, including the present group, reveal a strong Northern influence. The sense of monumentality and volume here is indebted to Claus Sluter, the sculptor to the Dukes of Burgundy. Indeed, these broad swathes of drapery and stylized facial types recall the Burgundian Pietà in the church of Sainte-Seine l’Abbaye, Côte d’Or, in which Christ is represented in the same horizontal manner (W. Forsyth, op.cit., p. 41, fig. 39). This elegant group is an outstanding example of the French late Gothic sculptural tradition and was likely commissioned for a private chapel.

Historically dated to around 1525, the Pietà was presumed to have been made for the church of the Château in La Terrasse in the comté of Comminges, south of Carbonne, a town southwest of Toulouse. In the late 15^th century, La Terrasse was a fortified medieval structure overlooking the river Garonne. In 1482 exclusive control of the castle and its surrounding lands were acquired by Pierre I Potier, the founder of a noble dynasty from Toulouse. Potier and his descendants played a major role in the finances of the province of Languedoc. He is first recorded in Toulouse in 1477 when he was employed as an assistant to the receiver of direct taxes. By the time he purchased the estate, he had become tax collector for the diocese of Toulouse, a position he retained for nearly 25 years. Potier became a member of the Parliament of Toulouse in 1500 and later secretary to the king of France, François Ier, and treasurer of the estates of Languedoc. Admiral Guillaume Gouffier, Raoul Turault, Treasurer of the Queen’s household, and Louis de Brézé, Grand Seneschal of Normandy (the husband of Diane de Poitiers) were among the members of the court with whom Potier had frequent contact.   

Potier’s son, Pierre II Potier, replaced his father as Receveur des gages, exploits et amendes for the Parliament of Toulouse. By 1522, he had purchased the office of notary and secretary to the king of France. Upon his father’s death in 1524, he inherited vast wealth and land holdings that included La Terrasse. It was apparently for Pierre II that the Château in La Terrasse was remodeled in around 1530; and it was therefore presumably for him that the present Pietà was made.

It is known that this sculpture passed by inheritance to a branch of one of the oldest noble families in Languedoc, the d’Hautpouls, the founder of which was Pierre Raimond d’Hautpoul, who in 1095 joined the Crusade led by Raimond, Comte de Toulouse. By the late seventeenth century, La Terrasse was the property of Pierre de Roux-Montbel, general syndic of Languedoc and a descendant of the Potiers. In 1691, his daughter Marthe de Roux de La Terrasse, married Joseph, Marquis d’Hautpoul. The sculpture was later inherited by her oldest son, Jean Antoine, Marquis d’Hautpoul, who in his youth was a page in the household of Louis XIV. It passed through a succession of d’Hautpouls that included the Marquis d’Hautpoul-Geyre,
who was living at La Terrasse before the French Revolution. One of his descendants sold the Pietà in 1885 to Henri Rachou, a native of Toulouse and a painter, engraver, writer and art historian. Rachou was a friend of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who studied with him in the ateliers of Léon Bonnat and Fernand Cormon. He later became the curator of the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse and produced several important books on medieval sculpture. Rachou’s portrait of his friend Lautrec, who sometimes found him a little overbearing, is in the Musée des Augustins.

RELATED LITERATURE 
A. Navelle, Familles nobles et notables du Midi toulousain, XVe-XVIe siècles, Toulouse, 1991-1993, VIII, p. 277
H. Ginesty and B. Tollon, “Le Château de Saint-Elix, nouveaux documents” Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Midi de la France, LVI, 1996, pp. 129-130
J. Baudoin, La sculpture flamboyante en Rouergue, Languedoc, Créer, 2003