Michel II CORNEILLE, known as CORNEILLE the Younger (Paris, 1642 – id., 1708)
Michel II Corneille (Paris, 1642 – id., 1708) is recognized today as one of the major history painters of the French school at the end of Louis XIV's reign. Despite the lack of monographs, it is certain that this artist, who became close to Pierre Mignard, participated in the largest projects of his time. The first of these was, in 1670-72, the decoration of the Salon of Mercury in the State Apartments of the Palace of Versailles (in situ), then, in 1688, in the Grand Trianon (also in situ). In 1702-1703, Michel Corneille also decorated the Saint-Grégoire Chapel of the Royal Church of Les Invalides (known through engravings and sketches that have recently reappeared on the art market). The artist was also the author of large paintings for churches such as The Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew, May of Notre-Dame of 1672 (Arras Museum), The Assumption for the high altar of Notre-Dame de Versailles (in situ), or The Flight into Egypt for the church of Saint-Nizier in Lyon (also in situ). We should also mention the leading role played by Corneille during the replacement of Colbert by Louvois. He selected the models and subjects to be transcribed for the tapestry series known as the Subjects of Fable. The superb Judgment of Paris, a painted adaptation of Raimondi's engraving after Raphael (Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts), is part of this tapestry cycle. Beyond these decorative ensembles, Michel II Corneille was the author of a number a considerable number of drawings. The majority of them are derived from models, primarily Bolognese, which are closely linked to the work Michel II Corneille had produced for the great art collector Everhard Jabach. Towards the end of the 1660s, Jabach commissioned a group of young artists, including Michel II Corneille, to rework his drawings of the masters, with the intention of selling them more effectively to the royal collections (which occurred in 1671). The artist seems to have sought to expand upon this concept, creating sketches of his own reminiscent of those by the Carracci or Giulio Romano. This means that, in the realm of easel painting proper, Michel II Corneille's contributions remain quite limited number (and this is the major difference with Charles de La Fosse, as well as the Bon brothers and Louis de Boullogne, his contemporaries). In the New Testament realm, one can hardly cite more than a Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Louvre), two versions of the Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist (Musée d'Angers and Musée de Chambéry), a Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (Boughton House, Northamptonshire, Great Britain), a Holy Family (sold on the art market in 1998), and a Saint Jerome (Musée d'Orléans). In the mythological realm, one can cite two Bacchanalia (Musée de Grenoble and art market), the Old Testament being represented only by a Moses Saved from the Waters (recently sold at auction).
OUR SELECTION
A major work rediscovered
