Several purchases from Fontainebleau (and the Château de Pau)

18/5/25 - Acquisitions - Fontainebleau, Musée national du château and Pau, Musée national du château - Three very recent acquisitions (the latest dating from today) by the Château de Pau and the Château de Fontainebleau shed light on a major commission for tapestries in 1822 for the ‘"apartment of HRH Monsieur in Fontainebleau [1]", Monsieur being none other than the Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVIII and future Charles X.

Seven tapestries were planned, in vertical format, five wider ones showing episodes from the life of Saint Louis and Henri IV, and two narrower ones showing allegories, but it seems that only the latter, which disappeared in the fire at the Gobelins workshop in 1871, were woven, either because the paintings were considered too weak [2] or, more likely, because when Louis XVIII died, Tardieu lost his protectors in the royal administration.
Of the large cartoons, those for the Virtues are known today, identified at the Musée de Valence [3], and four of the five depicting Saint Louis and Henri IV.

1. Jean-Charles Tardieu,
called Tardieu-Cochin (1765-1830)
Henry IV During the Siege of Paris, c. 1823
Oil on canvas - 32.5 x 24.5 cm
Pau, Musée national du château
Photo: Galerie Le Serbon

See the image in its page

2. Jean-Charles Tardieu,
called Tardieu-Cochin (1765-1830)
Saint Louis at Damietta, c. 1822
Oil on canvas - 32.2 x 24.3 cm
Fontainebleau, Musée national du château
Photo: Galerie Marty de Cambiaire

See the image in its page

Four painted sketches reappeared in November 2023 at a sale in the provinces, unidentified and listed simply as ‘"19th-century French school". One, acquired by the galerie Le Serbon , depicting Henry IV during the siege of Paris [4], was purchased by the Château de Pau (ill. 1), the other, Saint Louis at Damietta [5] (ill. 2), was acquired by the Galerie Marty de Cambiaire, which sold it to the Château de Fontainebleau. A third sketch showing the two compositions for the…