The Passion Of Christ – French School Of The 17th Century, Circle Of Lubin Baugin

Oil on oak panel, two boards. French school from the first half of the 17th century, circle of Lubin Baugin (c. 1612 – 1663).
A true enigma, our composition raises questions about its author(s). Indeed, the stripped-down classicizing treatment of the central scene is very far from the Emilian-tinged Mannerism of the figures surrounding it. We see a work executed by two hands, by two artists. And it was not uncommon in the 17th century for two painters to collaborate on the same work, one sometimes painting the decor and the other the characters. These devotional paintings, whose central scene is framed by grisaille motifs (in a range of grays), are often found among the Flemish, first and foremost Frans II Francken (1581 – 1641), who thus multiplied the representations of the Passion. But our painting is very French, and that makes it a work of great rarity. The crucifixion does not fail to evoke the sober art of Lubin Baugin, who was sometimes criticized for the bareness of his works. The landscape behind the cross exists only through plays of colors and light, offering great intimacy to the scene. Also, in the years 1640-1642, Baugin painted religious subjects on small wooden panels. Our second artist has surrounded the composition with angels with elongated silhouettes holding the instruments of the Passion. These ingenuous angels evoke the style of Bartolomeo Schedoni (1578 – 1615) or the slender figures of Parmesan (1503 – 1540), two painters whose art had won over Lubin Baugin during his stay in Emilia, which reinforces the idea that he could be the author of the central scene. At the top of this frame, the cloudy sky opens to reveal God the Father, and at the foot of the composition, the earth on which rests the tomb of Christ. The two busts on either side of the upper part are none other than Joseph and Mary. Finally, the rooster is a representation of Christ who announces the new day of faith. Our composition has one last originality: it is treated in trompe-l'oeil. Indeed, the crucifixion is surrounded by shadows, as if it had been painted on an independent panel placed on the one where the figures are in brunaille.

The painting is presented in a carved and gilded wooden frame with water leaf motifs from the Louis XIII period.
Dimensions: 52 x 40 cm – 63 x 51 cm with the frame
Sold with invoice and certificate of expertise.

Biography: Lubin Baugin (Pithiviers or in Courcelles-le-Roi c. 1612 – Paris 1663) probably trained in the entourage of the painters of Fontainebleau. It was in the years 1628-1629 that he went to Paris where he was accepted as a master painter of the corporation of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and, through contact with the many Dutch artists there, began a career as a still life painter. His parents' fortune allowed him to go and live in Italy in the 1630s. Back in France, his artistic production shows a great Italian influence, inspired by the Mannerism of Parmesan and the painting of Raphael. In 1643, he finally became a member of the corporation of Parisian painters and fully practiced his profession in the capital. At the height of his fame in 1651, he entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Having fallen into oblivion, he is now known thanks to the work of Jacques Thuillier, who devoted an article to him published in 1963 in the magazine L'Œil and co-organized an exhibition devoted to his work at the Musée d'Orléans in 2002.

Bibliography:
- Thuillier Jacques, Notter Annick, Daguerre de Hureaux Alain, catalogue of the Lubin Baugin exhibition, Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts, February 21-May 19, 2002, Toulouse, Musée des Augustins, June 8-September 9, 2002, RMN, 2002
- Mérot Alain, French Painting in the 17th Century, Electa, 1994
- Kazerouni Guillaume, The Colors of the Sky, Paintings of the Churches of Paris in the 17th Century, Paris Musée, 2012
- Milovanovic Nicolas, Catalogue of 17th Century French Paintings in the Louvre Museum, Louvre Editions, 2021