Cassandra Imploring Revenge From Minerva, Workshop Of Jérôme-martin Langlois (1779-1838)

Cassandra imploring Minerva's revenge, Workshop of Jérôme-Martin Langlois (1779-1838) 54 x 46 cm Monogram PE lower left Oil on canvas. Restorations, recanvassed. “Mr. Langlois's study painting represents Cassandra who has just been outraged by Ajax, at the feet of the statue of Minerva. The head of Priam's daughter has nobility, expression and grace. The draperies and accessories of the painting are vividly and finely rendered. The part in the background, lit by the moon and by the fire of Troy, produces a very piquant contrast with the warm tone of the rest of the painting and at the same time serves to explain the subject. » Joachim Lebreton in his report on the shipments of paintings executed from 1809 to 1811 by the painters resident at the Villa Medici. A student of Jacques-Louis David, Langlois distinguished himself by winning the Prix de Rome in 1809. During these Roman years he painted the version of our work today kept at the Chambéry museum, which was first exhibited at the Salon from 1817, then purchased by Louis XVIII subsequently. We know of another watercolor version by Langlois's hand kept at the Met in New York, which was probably made based on the composition from the Salon of 1817 for a private collector. Our version has some differences with the final model: the flame on the altar is hidden behind a green cloth stretched in the upper left corner. Our work is therefore linked to a student of the painter or to another painter resident in Rome at the same time as this one.