The Passion of the Christ - 17th century French school, entourage of Lubin Baugin

Oil on oak panel, two boards. French school of the first half of the 17th century, entourage of Lubin Baugin (c. 1612 - 1663).
A real enigma, our composition raises questions about its author(s). Indeed, the classicist treatment of the central scene is far removed from the Emilian mannerism of the surrounding figures. We see a work executed by two hands, by two artists. And it was not uncommon in the 17th century for two painters to collaborate on the same work, one sometimes painting the scenery and the other the figures.
These devotional paintings, in which the central scene is framed by grisaille motifs (in a monochrome of gray), are often found among Flemish painters, foremost among them Frans II Francken (1581 - 1641), who multiplied his representations of the Passion in this way. But our painting is French, and that makes it a work of great rarity.
The crucifixion is reminiscent of the sober art of Lubin Baugin, who was sometimes criticized for the simplicity of his work. The landscape behind the cross exists only through the interplay of color and light, lending great intimacy to the scene. In the years 1640-1642, Baugin painted religious subjects on small-format wood panels.
Our second artist encircled the composition with elongated angels holding the instruments of the Passion. These ingenuous angels evoke the style of Bartolomeo Schedoni (1578 - 1615) or the slender figures of the Parmesan (1503 - 1540), two painters whose art had conquered Lubin Baugin during his stay in Emilia, which reinforces the idea that he may be the author of the central scene. At the top of the frame, the cloudy sky opens up to reveal God the Father, and at the foot of the composition, the earth on which Christ's tomb rests. The two busts on either side of the upper section are none other than Joseph and Mary. Finally, the rooster represents Christ, announcing the new day of faith.
A final original feature of our composition is its trompe-l'œil treatment. The crucifixion is surrounded by shadows, as if it had been painted on a separate panel on top of the brown figures.

The painting is presented in a carved and gilded wood frame with water-leaf motifs from the Louis XIII period.
Dimensions: 52 x 40 cm - 63 x 51 cm with frame
Sold with invoice and certificate of appraisal.

Biography: Lubin Baugin (Pithiviers or Courcelles-le-Roi c. 1612 - Paris 1663) probably trained with the Fontainebleau painters. In 1628-1629, he moved to Paris, where he was accepted as a master painter at the Saint-Germain-des-Prés guild and, through contact with the many Dutch artists there, began a career as a still-life painter. His parents' fortune enabled him to move to Italy in the 1630's. On his return to France, his artistic output bore witness to a strong Italian influence, inspired by the Mannerism of Parmesan and the painting of Raphael. In 1643, he finally became a member of the Parisian painters' guild and fully practiced his craft in the capital. At the height of his fame in 1651, he entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Having fallen into oblivion, he is now known thanks to the work of Jacques Thuillier, who devoted an article to him published in 1963 in the magazine L'Œil, and co-organized an exhibition devoted to his work at the Musée d'Orléans in 2002.

Bibliography :
- Thuillier Jacques, Notter Annick, Daguerre de Hureaux Alain, catalog of the Lubin Baugin exhibition, Orléans, musée des beaux-arts, February 21-May 19, 2002, Toulouse, Musée des Augustins, June 8-September 9, 2002, RMN, 2002
- Mérot Alain, La Peinture française au XVIIe siècle, Electa, 1994
- Kazerouni Guillaume, Les Couleurs du ciel, peintures des églises de Paris au XVIIe siècle, Paris Musée, 2012
- Milovanovic Nicolas, Catalogue des peintures françaises du XVIIe siècle du Musée du Louvre, Louvre Editions, 2021