Jean-Baptiste Henri DURAND-BRAGER (1814-1879) - Rocca San Nicola, Sicily

Jean-Baptiste Henri DURAND-BRAGER (Dol, 1814 - Paris, 1879)

View of the Rocca San Nicola near Licata in Sicily

Oil on Panel
monogrammed lower left and written at the back
22 x 35 cm

Pupil of GUDIN, DURAND-BRAGER then enters the studio of ISABEY after making several campaigns in the long term, it routes Europe and Algeria, Senegal and the Atlantic sides of Africa . In 1840 he was attached to the expedition to return to France of Napoleon's ashes. He was awarded with the Knight Cross of the Legion of Honour in 1844 and became an officer in 1865. He returned to France in late 1843 and is responsible for the following year two orders of state. Later, he painted for the Tsar of Russia and the Emperor of Austria (1886). He also published several albums on the navy.

He was the teacher of Charles Euphrasie KUWASSEG and Edouard ADAM.

He is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery (31th division)

Museums: Bordeaux, Laval, Nantes and Versailles


The landscape, painted from the beach, offers the island of Rocca San Nicola situated in the municipality of Licata in Sicily. The island, which is little more than a rock, is separated from Sicily by 120 meters and encloses a strip of sea known for its beauty, clean, clear, and rich in fishes.

Traces of human settlement dating back to the Greco-Roman antiquity are presents on the island, drawn into the rock.

At the bottom of the sea strip, on the rocks, was installed a Madonna at the precise spot where were found the remains of ancient stranded commercial vessels after searching a shelter during bad weather.