'THE VOW OF LOUIS XIII'
[PLATE VIII]
This great canvas, ordered by the Administration of the Fine Arts for the Cathedral of Montauban, where it is now to be seen in the sacristy, was begun in Florence in 1821, and finished three years later. The subject represents Louis xiii., King of France, consecrating to the Virgin his person, his crown, and his state, in recognition of the great mercy about to be vouchsafed by heaven in granting him an heir to his kingdom.
It would seem from his letters written at this period that Ingres was not altogether pleased with the "double subject" prescribed for him, and that, preferring one in which the interest should be more centered, he expressed his desire to paint instead 'The Assumption.' The Administration, however, was firm, and the artist was forced to yield. In his rendering of the scene, in which the historic and the mystical are combined, he has closely followed Raphael, taking his motives from that painter's famous pictures of 'The Transfiguration,' 'The Sistine Madonna,' 'The Madonna of Foligno,' and 'The Mass of Bolsena' (see Masters in Art, Vols. 1 and 4, Parts 12 and 40).
"Notwithstanding its manifest faults," writes M. Momméja, "this work is truly grand. It marks a turning-point in the history of painting as well as in the career of the artist whose fame it established. At the same time it was the beginning of his adherence to the academic method, which until then he had combated with such bitter violence.
"Exhibited at the Salon of 1824, 'The Vow of Louis XIII.' was received with unanimous approval. The romanticists, with Delacroix at their head, recognized in this new master the successful opponent of the teachings of David; while the classicists discovered in his conscientious drawing, sober and restrained coloring, an intentional protest against the innovators."
'PORTRAIT OF MADAME DEVAUÇAY'
[PLATE IX]
In 1807, the year after his arrival in Rome, Ingres painted this portrait of Madame Devauçay, now in the Condé Museum, Chantilly, which for its purity of line, delicate subtlety of expression, and for its quality of distinction, ranks as one of his best and most characteristic works. The colors, too, partly owing, no doubt, to the mellowing effect of time, are richer and there is more atmosphere than in many of his paintings.
Madame Devauçay is seated in an armchair of red damask against a dark background. She wears a black velvet dress and a yellowish coffee-colored shawl. Around her throat is a necklace of brownish-red beads, and in one hand she holds a small tortoise-shell fan. Her smooth black hair is ornamented with a gold comb just visible at the back of her well-shaped head. Her eyes are dark, her complexion sallow, her features delicate, and although her face is in repose, about her mouth there lurks an inscrutable smile.
"Something in this canvas holds one captive," writes M. Lapauze, "even before one has had time to fully take in the perfection of the lines, the beauty of the arrangement, the velvety quality of the color. She is sister to Leonardo's 'Mona Lisa,' this woman of whom we cannot tell whether or not she is fair to look upon, so strongly does she appeal to our emotions.... She is as mysterious as the enigmatic creations of a Leonardo, or a Holbein, or as some of those beings portrayed by certain of the Primitives who have fixed upon their canvases the inexpressible emotions of the soul. Ingres, worshiper of form, consummate master of line, has here attained this rare power of magic."