Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, oval, 60 x 43.5 cm, framed

Provenance:

European private collection
We are grateful to Professor Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée and to Professor Erich Schleier for both independently confirming the attribution of the present painting after inspection of the original.

Professor Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée will include this painting in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist.

This hitherto unpublished self-portrait constitutes an important addition to the artist’s oeuvre. The work is characterised by a free handling of paint with broad brushstrokes and is closely related to another of Vouet’s frontal self-portraits dated to circa 1626/27, now in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon (see fig.1). In both self-portraits Vouet depicts himself in the same frontal pose. The forelock of hair is different, however; here it is on the right, whereas it is on the left in the Lyon version. The brightly lit forehead is the same in both versions, as are the large hooded eyes. The voluminous ruff in the present version has been replaced by a flatter collar, and in both versions the rest of the garments are barely outlined.

Brejon de Lavergnée dates the present work to around 1619; Schleier has suggested a slightly later date of execution of between 1623/24. Both dates anticipate the Lyon self-portrait.

From 1614 Vouet was working in Rome, and during this period his works were strongly influenced by Caravaggio. This influence is clearly displayed in the present work by the dramatic contrasts of light and the plain background. The composition, which is rapidly executed, is characterised by the use of a restricted palette of browns and whites, together with the lack of any attempt to achieve a decorative layout. Vouet depicts himself how he is, in a realistic manner, using the contrasts of light and shade to provide a concise modelling and powerful facial expression.

In this study Vouet appears to be experimenting. This frontal self-portrait with its striking direct look and the half-opened mouth expresses a multitude of emotions: sadness, passion, torment, and perhaps ecstasy to achieve an intimate portrait vivant. The result is an innovative transient image, created with the intent to capture a precise moment in time.

In Rome, Vouet enjoyed the protection and patronage of the Barberini family, as well as support form the French crown. He rapidly established a reputation and received numerous commissions from ecclesiastical and aristocratic patrons, among them Cassiano dal Pozzo, Vincenzo Giustiniani, Paolo Giordano Orsini and the Doria family, whom he depicted in such portraits as that of Gian Carlo Doria in the Louvre, Paris. In 1624 Vouet was elected President of the Accademia di San Luca, and he seemed ready to follow an entirely Italian career. In 1627, however, he was recalled by the king, who wished to have a painter at the court who would be capable of realizing the ambitious projects for the royal residences. Returning to France, Vouet brought with him an Italian idiom hitherto unknown in France that revitalized French painting.