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拍品专文
Little is known about the Parisian view painters Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet, but their popularity and success is clear in the caliber of the collections in which their works can be found. Painted views of and from the Pont Neuf can be found in the The Blue Drawing room at the Musée Nassim de Camondo, the Mussée Carnavalet, the Musée de Louvre and The J. Paul Getty Museum. The present example is closest to the version formally in the collection of art historian and antiquarian Horatio Walpole (1717-1797), now in the Getty Museum (inv. 71.PA.25), which shows the Pont Neuf, the Institut de France (home of the five Academiés, including the Academié de pienture et de sculpture), the Ile de la Cité and the twin towers of the façade of Notre-Dame in the distance from a slightly different vantage point along the right bank of the Seine. The precise rendering of the architecture and topographical nature of the Raguenets' work both suggest the use of an optical chamber, a type of portable camera obscura, which allowed for complex linear perspective to be projected and traced en plein air. In addition to their nearly photographic accuracy, the pair were known for their restrained use of color, which beautifully captured the soft, warm Parisian light.
On account of the surviving views painted of or from the Pont Neuf, the city’s oldest standing bridge must have been a favored subject of the Raguenets and their patrons. The first brick of the bridge was laid in May of 1578, at the request of King Henri III (1551-1589), to alleviate traffic on the crowded Pont Notre-Dame, which had been rebuilt after it collapsed in 1499. Long delays in construction caused by design changes and political unrest, due to the Wars of Religion, left the bridge unfinished until 1606. The present view of the Pont Neuf no longer exists from the right bank of the Seine, as the Pont des Arts and Pont du Carrousel, which were added in 1804 and 1834, respectively, would today block the sight line.
On account of the surviving views painted of or from the Pont Neuf, the city’s oldest standing bridge must have been a favored subject of the Raguenets and their patrons. The first brick of the bridge was laid in May of 1578, at the request of King Henri III (1551-1589), to alleviate traffic on the crowded Pont Notre-Dame, which had been rebuilt after it collapsed in 1499. Long delays in construction caused by design changes and political unrest, due to the Wars of Religion, left the bridge unfinished until 1606. The present view of the Pont Neuf no longer exists from the right bank of the Seine, as the Pont des Arts and Pont du Carrousel, which were added in 1804 and 1834, respectively, would today block the sight line.