(Orlèans circa 1601–1664 Paris)
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra,
oil on canvas, 150 x 75 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, South of France;
with Galerie Eric Coatalem, Paris;
where acquired by the present owner

The present painting is one of the rare examples in which Michel Corneille the Elder undertook a secular subject. The painting represents Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra. Known from antiquity she became a heroine in the popular imagination during the 17th century and she celebrated through various sources, including the Historia Augusta. She was the subject of plays and cycles of paintings and tapestries representing ‘strong women’. She appears for example in the series of engravings entitled La Galerie des femmes fortes after drawings by Claude Vignon which represent celebrated women from antiquity and the Bible.

Zenobia was the wife of Settimio Odenato, a Roman general and the overlord of Palmyra. Following his assassination Zenobia managed to assert herself as the first and only queen of the city, reigning from 267 to 272 A.D. bringing her kingdom independence from the Roman Empire. In a brief time she managed to expand her territories, conquering Egypt, Palestine and part of Anatolia. However, her expansionist dream was quashed by the new emperor, Aurelian, who regained all the lost territories and taking the queen prisoner, brought her back to Rome, parading her as his finest war trophy, during the celebration of his imperial triumph of 274.

The present painting represents the queen as a captive, with her wrists bound by a gold chain. She wears fine armour and while her gaze is melancholy she appears still proud, and unbowed by defeat. The deep folds of the drapery are rendered with a light and fluid brush strokes, her rounded face, and the taste for the antique, exemplified by the relief carved pedestal upon which Zenobia leans, are all typical features of Michel Corneille’s paintings.

The artist trained at Paris in the studio of Simon Vouet, this experience set him on course for a brilliant career; like their father his children also became painters. Michel Corneille was one of the founder members in 1648 of the Académie Royale de Sculpture et Peinture at Paris, of which he subsequently became director.