Granet brought paintings by Ingres to the Hermitage

The Hermitage has opened another exhibition of one painting: “Portrait of François Granet” by Ingres. ANNA MATVEEVA thought about the Gallic handsome man with a folder for drawings.
World-class museums - there are only a couple dozen of them, and the Hermitage is one of them - are somewhat similar to small states. They have their subjects - their exhibits, they have civil servants - their employees, they have their own domestic and foreign policies, their own ministries of finance, security, education, and mass information. And they have their own inter-museum diplomacy. From time to time, museums pay each other official visits. Today, a portrait of Granet himself, painted by one of the greatest painters of the first half of the 19th century, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, arrived at the Hermitage on a visit from the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence, France.
François Marius Granet is now known somewhat less than Ingres, but they have very, very much in common - both as artists and as people. Both of them were students of the most famous painter of their era, Jacques Louis David, in whose workshop they met and subsequently became friends. Granet, however, studied with David for only a few months, after which he went free, while Ingres studied with the master for another four years. The result of his studies was one of his first serious works, “The Ambassadors of Agamemnon at Achilles,” which won the Grand Prix de Rome at the Paris School of Fine Arts. This prize was a scholarship for a four-year creative journey to Italy, the birthplace of classical painting. In 1802, Ingres traveled to the homeland of Leonardo and Michelangelo. In the same year, Granet also went to Italy. The friendship of the two young artists continued in Rome, where our portrait was painted, rightfully considered one of the best portraits of the early Ingres. Having completed the portrait, Ingres gave it to his friend and sitter in memory of the years spent under the Italian sun. Twenty-five years later, the middle-aged Granet would write to Ingres: “These were the most beautiful days of our lives.”
The young dandy, as Ingres portrayed his friend and colleague, stands on a balcony or terrace, with a luxurious Roman view opening behind him. Most likely, Granet posed for Ingres at the Roman Villa Medici, which in those years was the residence of the French Academy, where Ingres lived. Granet by that time was already a successful artist, self-confident and knowing his worth. The calm half-smile of a typically Gallic handsome man is addressed as if to everyone and no one, he is looking not at the viewer or even at the artist, but somewhere to the side, apparently, there are other people on the balcony “behind the scenes”. Granet is holding a folder for drawings, with “Granet” written on it. The fame of the young Granet was brought primarily by his Roman landscapes and numerous drawings of local landmarks, so, apparently, this is the same folder about which another (and also famous) student of David, the painter Francois Gerard, said: “All of Rome is in Granet’s portfolio.” By the way, there are several Roman paintings by Granet in the Hermitage collection, and in one of them Granet depicted himself - and also with the same folder in his hands. Behind the artist are the hills of the Eternal City and the recognizable Palazzo Quirinale, the summer residence of the Pope. Ingres was very interested in the Palazzo Quirinale, he painted it several times - and he also did not fail to insert it into the portrait of his friend.
Of all the early portraits of Ingres, the portrait of Granet is the most lively: apparently, friendship took its toll. It does not have the “porcelain” and “slickness” inherent in many of David’s works and inherited from him by the young Ingres in many other early works. The portrait is very warm, both Granet’s skin and the fabric of his cloak are velvety, realistic clouds are gathering in the sky over Rome (by the way, in the original version of the portrait the sky above Granet’s head was blue and cloudless; Ingres later added the clouds on top). There is goodwill and agreement between the artist and the model throughout. Why not show it? They were friends, they were young, talented and recognized. What else is needed for happiness - or for a good portrait?

Newspaper "Kommersant St. Petersburg" No. 208/P dated November 17, 2008, p. 3

Genius was friends with genius