Abbé Capperonnier

Artist Jacques-André-Joseph Aved (French, 1702-1766)

Place of OriginFrance

Date1740

DimensionsH: 31 in. (78.7 cm); W: 25 in. (63.5 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Preston Levis

Object number

1986.2

Not on View

Label TextClaude Capperonnier was an abbé, or deacon, and a scholar of classical literature. In 1722 he was appointed professor of Greek literature at the Collège de France. Shown seated in his study and wearing an abbé’s robes, he leans on a copy of his translation of the Roman writer Quintilian. A quill pen and an ink pot further allude to his status as a scholar. The portrait was commissioned by the financier Antoine Crozat, whose three sons Capperonnier tutored. Jacques André Joseph Aved’s portraits are memorable for their psychological and factual realism, and for their absence of superficial elegance. He characterized his sitters by using poses typical of each person, surrounded by carefully chosen props meaningful to their daily life. Aved was first trained in Amsterdam, and the realism of Dutch painting made a deep impression on his art. He especially admired Rembrandt (1606–1669) and owned a painting by him, as well as a complete set of his etchings.Published ReferencesWildenstein, Georges, Le peintre Aved, sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris, 1922, I, pp. 10, 51, 52-53, 55, 56; II, no. 20, repr. p. 183.

Wildenstein, Georges, "Premier supplement à la biographie et au catalogue de J. A. J. Aved (1922-1935)", Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1935, 1, pp. 164, 171.

"Calendar," Burlington, vol. 128, no. 1003, Oct. 1986, p. 775, repr.

"La chronique des arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 109, no. 1418, Mar. 1987, fig. 140, p. 23.

Hall, Nicholas H. J., ed., Colnaghi in America, New York, 1992, p. 133 [listed].

Exhibition HistoryParis, Salon, 1740, no. 89.

Paris, Petit Palais, Maître illustrateurs depuis le XVIII siècle, 1919, no. 1.

Paris, Fédération Française des Artistes, Quatre portraitistes du XVIIIe siècle: Aved, Danloux, Drouais, Tocqué, 1930, no. 3 (cat. by Count A. Doria).

Copenhagen, Charlottenborg Palace, L'art français au XVIII siècle, 1935.