ALEXANDRE CABANEL | La naissance de Vénus

Émilie-Thérèse Paton, Paris (née Pacini, according to an inscription on the reverse)
Léon Comerre and Jacqueline Comerre-Paton (by descent from the above, her mother) 
Denise Lion-Comerre (by descent from the above, her grandparents, and sold, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, February 3, 2003, lot 318, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale

Jean Nougaret, "Catalogue sommaire de l'oeuvre peint d'Alexandre Cabanel," Alexandre Cabanel 1823-1889: La tradition du beau, exh. cat., Musée Fabre, Paris; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 2010, p. 459, no. 172 (as location unknown)

Examined in the frame. Oil on stable panel. The colors remain bright and the surface appears fresh. There are a few isolated areas of faint, finely patterned craquelure on and around the putti and Venus' upper body and arms. Under UV: there are some areas of broad brushy fluorescence in the sky and underneath Venus' proper left torso, probably inherent to the work. There are a few very small fine retouches on Venus' upper legs, chest and proper left underarm.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A pupil of François-Edouard Picot, Alexandre Cabanel was one of the leading academic artists of the nineteenth century, along with William Bouguereau and Jean-Léon Gérôme. The present lot, completed in 1863, is a study for Cabanel’s masterpiece of the same year, La naissance de Vénus, now in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay (fig. 1). The finished work was well-received at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1863, where it was purchased by Napoleon III. Cabanel adapted the classic mythological scene of the birth of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, which has inspired countless artists since the Renaissance. Eroticized with her sensual pose and cascading red hair, Venus was undoubtedly inspired by Odalisque à l’esclave (1842, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, fig. 2) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, acknowledged in the mid-nineteenth century as the grand master of not only history and mythological painting but also of the female nude (Lisa Small, "Naissance de Vénus," Alexandre Cabanel 1823-1889: La tradition du beau, exh. cat., Musée Fabre, Paris; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, 2010, p. 212).

The present lot is dedicated to Émilie-Thérèse Paton (née Pacini), a French novelist and playwright, who previously sat for Cabanel. The work entered the collection of the painter Léon Comerre by way of his wife, Paton’s daughter Jacqueline, where it remained until recently.