''The Vow of Louis XIII'' is an 1824 painting by

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

, now in

Montauban Cathedral Montauban Cathedral (French language, French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Montauban'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a Monument historique, national monument of France located in the town of Montauban. It is the seat of the Bis ...

. The

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

shows a vow to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

of France. It was commissioned by France's Ministry of Interior in August 1820 for the cathedral of Notre-Dame in

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...

.Tinterow and Conisbee 1999, p. 548.Rosenblum 1986, p. 126. The subject of the painting was to be Louis XIII's vow in 1638 to consecrate his kingdom to the Virgin in Her Assumption.Arikha 1986, pp. 55–56. When Ingres accepted the commission, he was living in Florence. Although he had experienced success as a portrait painter, his ambition was to establish a reputation in the more prestigious genre of

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

. He went to work with his usual diligence, and spent four years bringing the large canvas to completion. He traveled to Paris with it in October 1824. It was a critical success at that year's

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

and later established Ingres' reputation as the main representative of classicism, in opposition to the romanticism represented at the same Salon by ''

The Massacre at Chios ''The Massacre at Chios'' (french: Scène des massacres de Scio) is the second major oil painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. The work is more than four meters tall, and shows some of the horror of the wartime destruction visited on ...

'' by

Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...

.Ternois 1980, p. 70. Conceived in a

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

esque style relatively free of the archaisms for which he had been reproached in the past, it marked Ingres' grand return to the Paris art world after his years in Rome and Florence, and his abandonment of a more daring style. Ingres found himself celebrated throughout France. In January 1825 he was awarded the Cross of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

, and in June 1825 he was elected to the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

. Numerous life drawings and painted studies for the painting survive. A small oil sketch of the composition is in the Musée Ingres in Montauban. In 1855, Ingres repeated the figures of the Virgin and Child in a watercolor, ''Virgin and Child Appearing to Sts.

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...

and Leopold'' (Cambridge,

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

).Condon et al., pp. 134, 245.

Gallery

File:Raphael - The Sistine Madonna - Google Art Project.jpg, Raphael, ''

Sistine Madonna The ''Sistine Madonna'', also called the ''Madonna di San Sisto'', is an oil painting by the Italian artist Raphael. The painting was commissioned in 1512 by Pope Julius II for the church of San Sisto, Piacenza, and probably executed ''c.'' 151 ...

'', 1512–1513; inspiration for Ingres' painting File:Madonna di Foligno (Raphael) September 2015-1a.jpg, Raphael, '' Madonna di Foligno'', 1511–1512, a possible source of inspiration for Ingres File:Ingres - The Virgin and Child Appearing to Saints Anthony of Padua and Leopold of Carinthia.jpg, Ingres, ''Virgin and Child Appearing to Sts.

and Leopold'', watercolor, 1855 File:Louis XIII dli 1006600134 cor.jpg, Luigi Calamatta after Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres,
The Vow of Louis XIII
, engraving, c. 1886/1910

References

Bibliography

* Arikha, Avigdor. ''J.A.D. Ingres: Fifty Life Drawings from the Musée Ingres at Montauban''. Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1986. * Condon, Patricia; Cohn, Marjorie B.; Mongan, Agnes. ''In Pursuit of Perfection: The Art of J.-A.-D. Ingres''. Louisville: The J. B. Speed Art Museum, 1983. * Radius, Emilio. ''L'opera completa di Ingres''. Milan: Rizzoli, 1968. * Rosenblum, Robert . ''Ingres'', Paris, Cercle d'Art, coll. "La Bibliothèque des Grands Peintres", 1986. * Ternois, Daniel. ''Ingres'', Paris, Fernand Nathan, 1980. * Tinterow, Gary; Conisbee, Philip; Naef, Hans. ''Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vow of Louis XIII, The Paintings by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1824 paintings Louis XIII Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings in Montauban Angels in art