Virgin Orante - By Jules-elie Delaunay

Praying Virgin signed J.Delaunay, for Jules-Elie Delaunay. This Mary is crowned with a semblance of a Greek cross, wearing her white scapular habit, her hands outstretched, her bare foot protruding as rarely, on a coffered marble floor. This representation refers to the invocation of God in prayer, of ancient Byzantine paleo-Christian origin. Her face is reminiscent of Delaunay's Ophélie and David Triomphant. The cartouche at the bottom of the oil on panel frame indicates the original title "Virgo Sacerdos". Jules-Elie Delaunay was born in Nantes in 1828. A student of Hippolyte Flandrin, he inherited the technical skills of this neo-classical artist and his sensitivity as a colorist. He specializes in large compositions and receives numerous commissions from the Church and the State: Opéra Garnier in Paris, Pantheon, Convent of the Visitation in Nantes, Church of St François Xavier in Paris, Church of the Holy Trinity in Paris. We can date this painting from the years 1855-60, around his religious period when Delaunay was second Grand Prix de Rome in 1856. The Nantes Museum of Arts keeps the most important collection of his works, i.e. 2673 drawings and 49 paintings.