Art Institute of ChicagoPublic domain

Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples

Nicolas Bertin · 1720–30

Analyst brief

What the record supports

Nicolas Bertin's "Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples" is an oil on panel painting created between 1720 and 1730. Measuring 49.5 × 72.1 cm, it depicts a religious scene and is classified as an oil on panel work from France. The artwork is part of the Painting and Sculpture of Europe department and was acquired as part of the Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection.

The painting's provenance traces back to possibly a private collection in Lyons, as suggested by a 1764 catalogue. It was later owned by Ange Laurent de Lalive de Jully, Paris, and subsequently by the duc de Praslin family until 1793. Further ownership included Abraham Fontanel and the Baron Jacques Joseph de Boussairolles family in Montpellier, from whom it was purchased in 1979 via agent Jean Pierre Selz.

The artwork has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in "The Art of the Edge: European Frames, 1300–1900." It is documented in several publications, including D. D’Argenville’s "Voyage pittoresque de Paris" (1757), Thierry Lefrançois’s "Nicolas Bertin (1668–1736): Peintre d’historie" (1981), and Susan Wise’s contribution to "French and British Paintings from 1600 to 1800 in The Art Institute of Chicago" (1996). No information regarding comparable holdings of Bertin's specific works is available in the provided data.

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Probably a private collection, Lyons [according to Catalogue historique… de M. de Lalive 1764]. Ange Laurent de Lalive de Jully, Paris, by 1757; sold Pierre Remy, Paris, May 7, 1770, no. 65, to Rémy, acting on behalf of the duc de Praslin, for 1,050 livres [according to annotated sale catalogue in Frick Art Reference Library, New York; see also Bailey 1988, p. xlvii]; probably César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin (d. 1785), Paris, by descent to Louis César Renaud de Choiseul, vicomte de Choiseul (d. 1791); by descent to César Hippolyte de Choiseul, comte de Choiseul-Praslin; sold A. J. Paillet, Paris, February 18 and following, 1793, no. 152, to Clysorius for 800 livres [see annotated sale catalogue in the Frick Art Reference Library, New York and Lefrançois 1981, p. 114]. Abraham Fontanel, Montpellier [Lefrançois 1981, p. 114]; sold by Fontanel, 1806, to Baron Jacques Joseph de Boussairolles (d. 1814), Château de Mogère, Montpellier for 2,000 livres [according to Lefrançois 1981, p. 114, and Chevalier 1995, pp. 169–177]; by descent to his great-granddaughter, Marie-Claire Boussairolles (d. 1905), who married Charles-Antoine Barthélemy, baron de Saizieu; by descent to Louis-Antoine-Henri Barthélemy, baron de Saizieu; by decent to Joseph, comte de Colbert-Cannet; Chevagnes [according to information sheet provided by Jean Pierre Selz at time of purchase; see also Jeannine Redon, Les Boussairolles. Chronique d’une famille Montpelliéraine sous l’ancien régime et les deux empires, Montpellier 1988, p. 77]; purchased from Colbert-Cannet with Jean Pierre Selz as agent, 1979.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Art Institute of Chicago, The Art of the Edge: European Frames, 1300–1900, no. 52.

Literature

Published references

[Antoine Nicolas] D[ézallier d’Argenville (fils)], Voyage pittoresque de Paris…, 3d ed. (Paris, 1757), pp. 149–150; reprint (Geneva, 1972), pp. 149–150; 4th ed. (Paris 1765), p. 165.
Almanach des beaux-arts (Paris, 1762), p. 188.
Catalogue historique du cabinet de peintures et sculpture françoise, de M. de Lalive… (Paris, 1764), p. 100.
Hébert, Dictionnaire pittoresque et historique, vol. 1 (Paris, 1766), p. 128; reprint (Geneva, 1972), p. 43.
Emmanuel Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs, et graveurs de tous les t emps et de tous les pays, 3d ed. (Paris, 1960), vol. 1, p. 615; 4th ed. (Paris, 1976), vol. 1, p. 697.
Thierry Lefrançois, Nicolas Bertin (1668–1736): Peintre d’historie (Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1981), pp. 19–20, 68, 113–15, no. 26, p. 152, under nos. 108*–10*, p. 188, under no. 252, fig. 99.
Un Grand Collectionneur sous Louis XV: Le Cabinet de Jacques-Laure de Breteuil, bailli de l’Ordre de Malte 1723–1785, exh. cat. (Yvelines, Château de Breteuil, 1986), p. 23, under no. 101.
Colin B. Bailey, ed., Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully: A facsimile reprint of the ‘Catalogue historique’ (1764) and the ‘Catalogue raisonné des tableaux’ (March 5, 1770) (New York, 1988), pp. xxvi, xlvi-xlvii, p. 100 (1764 catalogue facsimile), p. 36, no. 65 (1770 catalogue facsimile).
Alain Chevalier, “La Collection Boussairolles: goût et commerce à Montpellier sous le Consulat et l’Empire,” Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français, année 1994 (1995), p. 177, no. 4, ill.
Susan Wise in Susan Wise and Malcolm Warner, French and British Paintings from 1600 to 1800 in The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 1996), pp. 2–5, ill.
Colin B. Bailey, Jean-Baptiste Greuze: The Laundress (Los Angeles, 2000), p. 19–20, fig. 16.

Comparables