L'Eminence Grise
Jean-Léon Gérôme
(French, 1824–1904)
1873
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions68.6 x 101 cm (27 x 39 3/4 in.)
Credit LineBequest of Susan Cornelia Warren
Accession number03.605
On View
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Gérôme's art epitomized the officially sanctioned, academic style against which the Impressionists rebelled. His paintings, with their imperceptible brushwork, meticulous detail, and brilliant effects of color and light, commanded huge prices in both France and America. L'Eminence Grise recreates the palace of Cardinal Richelieu, the "Red Cardinal," virtual ruler of France during the childhood of Louis XIII. Descending the staircase is Richelieu's chief adviser, François Le Clerc du Trembly, a Capuchin friar known as L'Eminence grise (the Gray Cardinal), a term that has come to mean "the power behind the throne."
InscriptionsLower right: J.L. GEROMEProvenanceMay, 1873, sold by the artist to Goupil et Cie., Paris (stock no. 8120); June 4, 1873, sold by Goupil to James H. Stebbins, New York [see note 1]; February 12, 1889, Stebbins sale, American Art Association, New York, lot 76, to M. B. Mason, Boston for Susan Cornelia Clarke (Mrs. Samuel Dennis) Warren (b. 1825 - d. 1901), Boston [see note 2]; January 8, 1903, Mrs. S. D. Warren sale, American Art Association, New York, lot 113, to Samuel Putnam Avery, New York, for the MFA for $16,000. (Accession Date: January 13, 1903)NOTES:
[1] Almost certainly sold by the artist, who was the son-in-law of dealer Adolphe Goupil. As "Le Père Joseph," Getty Provenance Index, Goupil et Cie. records, PI record no. G-10411 (stock book 6, no. 8120, p. 208). Also see PI record no. G-5867 (stock book 7, no. 8824, p. 125), March, 1874, where it is listed as "L'eminence grise."
[2] As annoted in a copy of the auction catalogue (reproduction in curatorial file). The buyer may have been Mortimer Blake Mason (b. 1850 - d. 1909), the nephew, friend, and business partner of S. D. Warren. See Martin Green, "The Mount Vernon Street Warrens" (New York, 1989). Mrs. Warren lent the painting to the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, Department K - Fine Arts, cat. no. 2924.
Victor Léon Jean Pierre Charreton
