Depictions of Mythology and the Social Spaces they Occupy in Eighteenth Century, Paris.

Canan Cem Art History 110J: The Notion of Artist in Western Art

Instructor: Isabelle Tillerot December 4th 2014

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Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine

Charles Joseph Natoire, France 1735, Oil on canvas, 101 7/8 x 65 3/4 in.

(258.76 x 167 cm), Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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(fig. 1) (fig. 1a) (fig. 2)

(fig. 3)

(fig. 4) (fig. 5)

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(fig. 8) (fig. 9)

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Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine1, a large, oil on canvas

depicts the mythological story of Psyche. This artwork by Natoire, presents one such

scene in the narrative of this famous mythology made popular in the eighteenth century.

Artists of this period during the eighteenth century show an alignment to depict subjects

of mythology. It is interesting that the Story of Psyche is so popular during this time

period. Psyche makes herself known across a few different mediums such as paintings on

canvas like this example, painted within the boiseries of hotels such as Salon de la

Princesse of the hotel de Soubise, designed into tapestries designed by Francois Boucher,

and even made into sculptures2, or plays. “The myth was extremely popular in the early

1700s and formed the basis for several theatrical productions.”3 Observing this artwork at

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and conducting research about Natoire his other

works and works of his peers, has created questions about the popularity of the

mythological subject matter, the techniques and places employed by painters or

commissioned by patrons, and social and political life during the eighteenth century.

Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine, is large oil on canvas that

stands approximately two and one half meters tall by one and one half meters wide. It is

placed in a smaller gallery within the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The painting

depicts the beautiful mythological character of Psyche on one of her initiations sent by

Venus, to obtain the elixir of beauty from the queen of the underworld Proserpine. Venus

is so sure that Psyche is set up to fail, but she succeeds. Natoire’s work is carefully

orchestrated with full use of the canvas, as the gaze takes in all corners of detail

beginning from the bottom, upwards in a diagonal direction. Until the viewer also finds                                                                                                                1 See Fig (1) Charles Joseph Natoire, Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine, 1735, Oil on canvas 2 See Fig. (2) Augustin Pajou, Psyche Abandoned, 1796, Terracotta 3 Tapestries: The Story of Psyche. The J Paul Getty Museum. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=278051. Accessed Nov 26 2014.

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what Psyche is there to obtain, the elixir. Without knowing much of the narrative one can

deduce that there is an element of trust or higher secret being imparted here as Proserpine

points above4. Natoire is faithful to his characters demeanor depicting the grotesque men

or spying figures of the underworld in darker tones while the two beauties appear

graceful, weightless and with translucent complexion. The viewer is able to experience

every part of the painting which is filled with details of the underworld, tactile values of

the flesh, cloth and hair are very convincing and use of color ranges from the very darkest

in the corners, bold reds, oranges and brown to the pastel greens, blues, pinks and whites.

It is a mesmerizing and memorable piece of artwork.

The gallery that this painting is situated is full of accompanying artworks from the

peers and masters of Natoire. Some of the names that appear within the gallery include

Francois Boucher, Charles-Andre Vanloo, Jean-Honore Fragonard, and Jean-Francois De

Troy, this points to the era in which they all painted and the connections they have to one

another. Some of these artists similarly depict work that has a subject matter pertaining to

mythological characters including Venus, Mercury, Cupid and other allegorical feminine

depictions of the muses such as Minerva, Diane, and Roman heroes like Hercules. It is

observed that the story of Psyche is a popular theme across all mediums and can be

observed in the work of Pajou5, “there is no doubt that Pajou himself would have singled

out the Psyche…as his major contribution…typical of his art, as it is typical of its

particular period.”6

From the competitions of 1727 set by the Duke of Antin, it is clear that the most

popular subjects for painting are mythological characters set in the ancient scenes. The

                                                                                                               4 See (Fig. 1a) 5 See (Fig. 2) Augustin Pajou, Psyche Abandoned, 1796, Terracotta, Los Angeles County Museum of Art 6 Levey, Michael. Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789. (Yale University Press, 1993). Print. p156.

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depiction of, The Rape of Europa7 by Noel-Nicholas Coypel wins him the peoples’

choice per the lecture on Salons. Exhibitions and Public8 and other works of art taken

from the narratives of Ovid’s Metamorphosis9, Tite-Live’s Roman History10, and

Homer’s Iliad11 are also favorites at this time. The ideas of these narratives telling a story

of suffering, triumph, love, beauty, good versus evil are appealing to society at this time

during a period of social and political upheaval. The ephemeral themes are literally

stripped down as are the figures depicted, which are usually scantily clad. Meanwhile in

observing depictions of power, struggle and triumph the figures are adorned in material

and clothing matter.

The popularity of Psyche, can again be seen in the depictions of Psyche and

Cupid by Francois Boucher in the piece titled, Cupid Wounding Psyche12 also viewed at

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In this curved, shapely canvas we can view the

piece in the context of the setting it was intended for. It is up high on the wall as one

would find in an oval salon’s boiserie, these “oval salons are justly counted among the

masterpieces of the style in France.”13 Thus, not only is the narrative of Psyche a

prevailing one, but so is this idea of creating spaces within private homes which will

allow for the incorporation of a work of art within its very moldings and interior

architecture.

Continuing the theme of Psyche and her popularity in depictions of artwork, in

Bailey it is reported that “Natoire’s best-known and most impressive secular

commission…was his series of decorative panels illustrating the story of Psyche for the                                                                                                                7 See (fig. 4) Noel-Nicholas Coypel, The Rape of Europa, 1727 8 Tillerot, Isabelle. Class Lecture: Salons, Exhibitions and Public. University of California Los Angeles, Nov 13 2014 9 See (fig. 5) Jean Francois De Troy, Diana’s Rest, 1727 10 See (fig. 6) Francois Lemoyne, The Continence of Scipio, 1727 11 See (fig. 7) Jean Restout, Hector and Andromache, 1727 12 See (fig. 3) Francois Boucher, Cupid Wounding Psyche, 1741, Oil on canvas, Los Angeles County Museum of Art 13 Kimbal, Fiske. The Creation of the Rococo. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943) Print. P179.

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salon ovale de la princesse at the hotel de Soubise”14 There are eight panels to this

narrative detailing her travails.15 Architect Gabriel Germain Boffrand was commissioned

by the prince de Rohan in 1732 to design a new room at the Hotel de Soubise. Mirrored

panels would extend the view of a room, while placing French doors with windows

creates a space as if may be outside though sheltered from the elements. “Its elegance

stems from the alternation of rounded panels with mirrors, topped by…canvases…set in

curvilinear frames”.16

What is striking about the gallery space at the Los Angeles Museum of Art17 is

that it allows the visitor to receive this painting by Natoire, hung on a powder blue wall,

via two ways entering the room from the left or the right. This creates an idea that we are

in a grand setting not just at the museum, but perhaps in-situ as if you just walked into a

“Cabinet” or a “Salle d’Audiences” at the Hotel de Soubise18. These grand settings and

interiors were designed in such ways that could be deceiving to the eye. To add to the

trompe l’oeil it is thought more specifically that the large canvas work produced by

Natoire, The Toilet of Psyche,19 “was apparently conceived as part of a larger series of

panels which, when lowered or raised, varied the size of [the] salon at the chateau of La

Chevrette.”20 Is it therefore possible that the piece observed at the Los Angeles County

Museum of Art, Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine was intended in

the same way? A room divider of that creates an intimate space within a larger setting.

                                                                                                               14 Bailey, Colin B. The Loves of the Gods. (New York, Rizzoli, 1992). Print. p333 15 See (fig. 8 and 9) Charles Joseph Natoire, Psyche and Cupid, and Psyche Showing her Treasures to her Sisters, 1736-39, Hotel de

Soubise. 16 Natoire, Charles Joseph. Biography. Web Gallery Art. www.wga.hu/html_m/n/natoire/psyche.html. Accessed Nov 29 2014. 17 See (fig. 10) 18 See (fig. 11) 19 See (fig. 12) Charles Joseph Natoire, The Toilet of Psyche, Oil on canvas 1735 20 Scott, Katie. The Rococo Interior Decoration and Social Spaces in Early Eighteenth- Century Paris. (Yale University, 1995) Print.

p209-211.

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There seems to be much discrepancy on the writings of these two rather large art

works by Natoire. Both dated to 1735 the highlight of The Toilet of Psyche currently at

the New Orleans Museum of Art seems to enjoy a greater sense of “celebrity…in its own

day…” and today claims to be “by far the best-known example of rococo painting.”21 In

contrast Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine does not enjoy the same

notoriety.

Other spaces where depictions of Psyche appear throughout the eighteenth

century, is through a series of tapestries.22 “In the mid-1700s, the French king Louis XV

commissioned the renowned Beauvais manufactory to create a series of tapestries

illustrating scenes from the story of Psyche.” The design of which is commissioned to

Francois Boucher. The challenging part for the weaver is to depict the tactile values that

Boucher manages so well, “polished marble and mirrors to clouds and trees.”23 One of

the missing attributes is the prevalence of flesh in the tapestry, possibly because the

weaver’s reputation is also at stake.

In vast contrast to the tapestry he designed Francois Boucher’s piece titled, Cupid

Wounding Psyche24 the depiction of the characters barely clothed is a typical motif of

Boucher’s work, as Stokes points out, “best described as a carnival of nakedness. He

gives the sheen of satin to his flesh, which inclines to pearly whiteness”, the art he depicts

points to further mirror perhaps the nature of society at the time.

Whether the medium of portraying these important mythological figures is

through sculpture, canvas, on interior boiserie’s of salons, or tapestry one can see both

                                                                                                               21 Bailey, Colin B. The Loves of the Gods. (New York, Rizzoli, 1992). Print. p352 22 Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory; after cartoons by François Boucher; woven under the direction of Nicolas Besnier French, Silk

and wool, 1741-50 23 Tapestries: The Story of Psyche. The J Paul Getty Museum. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=278051.

Accessed Nov 26 2014. 24 See (fig. 3) Francois Boucher, Cupid Wounding Psyche, 1741, Oil on canvas, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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the popularity of the mythological subject and its proximity to the viewer, by bringing the

subject into the room, as Mckay observes of the salon, “These imagined bodies come to

inhabit, by their foregrounded position and multiple reflections, the space of the room.”25

Bringing such artwork into the room where audiences are received among high society

can create a dialogue between people, the views or notions one has about their social

status or politics maybe reflected.

While Boucher’s work in mythology shows a loss of “innocence” and loss of

“freshness”. De Goncourt is quoted in Stokes as saying, “The signature of Boucher is an

elegant vulgarity.” As Diderot critiques, perhaps it is all to [appeal] “to the empty-headed

dandies, the dubious young women, the gaping boys…all the rabble of a leisurely well-

dressed society which did not understand, or wish to learn, either good taste, or truth in

art.”26 The narratives of myths came from ancient anecdotes and writing perhaps not

intended to be represented in this way, but artists did what was commissioned of them,

especially when in company of the crown.

As noted by Conisbee, “Natoire’s masterpieces and chief contributions to the

history of French painting [include] the cycle of paintings devoted to the story of Psyche

in the Salon Ovale of the Hotel de Soubise…[it] is also one of the masterpieces of French

decorative painting”27 However it is noted in McKay that the depictions are not true to

the interpretation of Psyche, “as an allegory for the human soul which, once purified by

suffering and misfortune, is prepared for the enjoyment of true happiness” rather,

“Psyche is presented half-clothed, all gestures and glances seemingly freed from the

                                                                                                               25 McKay, Sherry. The "Salon de la Princesse": "Rococo" Design, Ornamented Bodies and the Public Sphere. Canadian Art Review,

Vol. 21, No. ½. Representation and Cultural Identity (1994), pp. 71-84. (Universities Art Association of Canada). http://www.jstor.org/stable/42631189. Accessed Nov 22 2014.

26 Stokes, Hugh. French Art In French Life. (London, Philip Allan & Co. Ltd. 1932) Print. p151. 27 Conisbee, Philip. Natoire at Compiegne and Nimes. The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 119, No. 893 (Aug., 1977), pp. 594+596-597

(The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.) http://www.jstor.org/stable/878850. Accessed Nov 22 2014

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narrative by the sensual appeal of color and detail.”28 Thus, Psyche has become a “prey to

the manipulations of a noble and mondain society…” no longer being depicting in her

true allegory for which she was first popularized.

The original popularity of myths in artwork “stemmed perhaps from its narrative

and moral symmetry.” Departure from this is reflected not only in the ways the myths are

being presented, in the lap of luxury or the crux of eroticism, but the disdain follows

through with the artists unhappy with the spaces they are working within. As Natoire

writes to Antoine Duchesne 1745, he complains his work is relegated to, “shameful

places…the only localities where we can make our talents shine.”29 Both the

manipulation of the subject and the techniques and spaces they are presented in, echoes

“a more complex articulation of social and political concerns.”30 The true depictions of

myths are convoluted with the shower of eighteenth century society. The way the

artworks are ornamented within the social spaces, have removed the quality of the

mythology and even the very essence of the artist namely his manner of painting, his

style or use of color.

                                                                                                               28 McKay, Sherry. The "Salon de la Princesse": "Rococo" Design, Ornamented Bodies and the Public Sphere. Canadian Art Review,

Vol. 21, No. ½. Representation and Cultural Identity (1994), pp. 71-84. (Universities Art Association of Canada). http://www.jstor.org/stable/42631189. Accessed Nov 22 2014.

29 Tillerot, Isabelle. Class Lecture: Salons, Exhibitions and Public. University of California Los Angeles, Nov 13 2014 30 Scott, Katie. The Rococo Interior Decoration and Social Spaces in Early Eighteenth- Century Paris. (Yale University, 1995) Print.

p209-211.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bailey, Colin B. The Loves of the Gods. (New York, Rizzoli, 1992). Print. p333-352 Conisbee, Philip. Natoire at Compiegne and Nimes. The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 119,

No. 893 (Aug., 1977), pp. 594+596-597 (The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.) http://www.jstor.org/stable/878850. Accessed Nov 22 2014

Kimbal, Fiske. The Creation of the Rococo. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943) Print.

P179. Levey, Michael. Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789. (Yale University Press,

1993). Print. p156. McKay, Sherry. The "Salon de la Princesse": "Rococo" Design, Ornamented Bodies and

the Public Sphere. Canadian Art Review, Vol. 21, No. ½. Representation and Cultural Identity (1994), pp. 71-84. (Universities Art Association of Canada). http://www.jstor.org/stable/42631189. Accessed Nov 22 2014.

Natoire, Charles Joseph. Biography. Web Gallery Art.

http://www.wga.hu/html_m/n/natoire/psyche.html. Accessed Nov 29 2014. Scott, Katie. The Rococo Interior Decoration and Social Spaces in Early Eighteenth-

Century Paris. (Yale University, 1995) Print. p209-211. Stokes, Hugh. French Art In French Life. (London, Philip Allan & Co. Ltd. 1932) Print.

p151. Tapestries: The Story of Psyche. The J Paul Getty Museum.

http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=278051. Accessed Nov 26 2014.

Tillerot, Isabelle. Class Lecture: Salons, Exhibitions and Public. University of California

Los Angeles, Nov 13 2014 Woolf, Felicity. Myths & Legends, Painting in the National Gallery. (London, Nation

Gallery Publications, 1988). Print.