"Le Choeur des Capucins de la piazza Barberini à Rome" attributed to François Marius Granet (1775-1849)

French neoclassical painter and draughtsman. Rare oil on canvas. Restored for use and maintenance. Small accident. 19th century. Sight size: H: 99; L: 72 cm

François Marius Granet was born in 1775 in Aix-en-Provence (France). His father, a master mason, instilled in him an early passion for painting. His training with Jacques Louis David gave him a taste for the architecture of the past and the effects of light. This painting, for example, illustrates the choir of a Roman church rarely represented by artists, as it is off the beaten track: Santa Maria della Concezione, located near Piazza Barberini and an integral part of a monastery of Capuchin friars. This painting is in the same vein as his work "Le Chœur des Capucins de la place Barberini à Rome" (The Capuchin Choir in Piazza Barberini, Rome), exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. The work, which is as much a view of architecture as a picture of piety, was an immediate success, thanks to the picturesque realism of the detail, the attitudes of the figures and the striking effect of light. The painter was soon asked to produce replicas by various collectors. He repeated this composition several times, with variations. Bibliography: "Ingres, Granet et la reine de Naples" Gennaro Toscano, Ed. Gourcuff Gradenigo - Pages 63."