Jules Alexandre Duval Le Camus, The Cup Of Joseph Found In The Bag Of Benjamin, Prix Rome

Jules Alexandre Duval Le Camus (Paris 1814-Saint Cloud 1878)
The cup of Joseph found in Benjamin's bag, sketch for the Prix de Rome in 1839
Oil on canvas
32.5 x 40.5 cm
Annotation on the reverse: Duval / A n ° 13 1839

Jules Alexandre Duval Lecamus was the son of the painter Pierre Duval Lecamus, himself a pupil of David. He was born in Paris on August 5, 1814 and died in Saint Cloud in 1878. He was a pupil of Delaroche and Drolling. He won the second Prix de Rome in 1838. He exhibited at the Salon from 1844 to 1867. We owe this artist the decoration of the church of Saint Cloud. The Avelines museum in Saint Cloud organized an exhibition and wrote an exhibition catalog in 2010 entitled "Les Duval Lecamus, painters from father to son".

The subject of this sketch, "The cup of Joseph found in the Benjamin bag", was the subject of the Prix de Rome for the year 1839. Here is the story: "Joseph, pressed by famine because the first grain was eaten, found himself forced to let Benjamin go. Joseph, moved by the sight of his younger brother, went out to cry. Then Jacob's sons were admitted to feast, placed at table by age rank, which Don't fail to amaze them. Benjamin is particularly blessed. But Joseph still wants to put his brothers to the test. So they go away, sacks full of free wheat, for the price of each sack has been placed there. Moreover, in Benjamin's sack, Joseph had his silver cup brought in. As soon as the little caravan had passed the gates of the city, Joseph had them stopped by his steward and had them searched: the cup was then discovered, and the travelers were indignant ".
The Prix de Rome that year was won by Ernest Hébert (1817-1908).
The review of the Journal des Artistes of September 29, 1939 says the following: "MHébert, the last admitted to the sketch competition, comes to compete for the prize with the three preceding ones (Duval-Lecamus, Brisset and Couture), and already the crowd which is easily impressed by what is new, by what is out of the ordinary, crowds in front of MHébert's composition (...) ". Jules Alexandre Duval le Camus therefore did not receive an award that year. Its composition was much richer than that of Hébert, the characters more numerous and in a style perhaps less academic.