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Ingres, Mme De Senonnes

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Ingres, Mme De Senonnes Fiche d’œuvre/ XIX e Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres (Montauban, 1780 – Paris, 1867) Portrait de Madame de Senonnes , 1814 Mots clefs Art du Portrait/ Ier Empire/ Italie/ Miroir/ Corps/ Madame de Senonnes , 1814-1816 Huile sur toile, 106 x 84 cm Achat 1853 Inv. 1028 Gérard Blot/Agence photographique de la RMN © domaine public L’œuvre Le portrait d’une femme libre Madame de Senonnes, de son nom de jeune fille Marie-Geneviève-Marguerite Marcoz, est née en 1783, dans une famille de drapiers Lyonnais. Elle se marie une première fois à Lyon mais, femme indépendante, elle divorce de son époux à Rome en 1809. C’est dans cette ville qu’elle rencontre le vicomte Alexandre de Senonnes dont elle devient dès 1810 la maîtresse avant de l’épouser à leur retour en France en 1815. Ingres réalise son portrait entre Rome et Paris, de 1814 à 1816. Madame de Senonnes meurt en 1828. La toile reste dans la famille du Vicomte de Senonnes jusqu’en 1852, date à laquelle elle est vendue à un antiquaire d’Angers. En effet, la famille du Vicomte n’a jamais apprécié ce mariage et n’a pas souhaité conserver la toile d’Ingres, peintre pourtant reconnu. C’est chez cet antiquaire que le conservateur du musée des beaux-arts de Nantes l’achète en 1853, du vivant de l’artiste. Cette toile, considérée aujourd’hui comme l’un des plus beaux portraits d’Ingres, est admirée par toute une génération d’artistes du début du XX e siècle, d’Henri Matisse à Pablo Picasso, André Breton et Louis Aragon. Des objets à la fois porteurs de sens et prétextes picturaux Confortablement assise sur un canapé de satin jaune, Madame de Senonnes a un regard rêveur. Ses vêtements et ses parures sont la marque de son statut social : robe à la mode richement ornée de soie et de dentelle, large châle en cachemire blanc bordé de fleurs, bagues à chaque doigt, bijoux sertis de rubis et de diamants en abondance… L’amour entre le Vicomte et Madame de Senonnes est rappelé par la valeur symbolique des pierres qu’elle porte : le rubis est un emblème populaire du bonheur, symbole d’un amour partagé, et le diamant signifie la pureté et l’amour éternel. Un miroir occupe une grande partie de la composition. Alors que les miroirs sont d’ordinaire utilisés pour amener lumière et perspective dans le tableau et ouvrir sur l’extérieur de la toile, sur l’univers du peintre ou celui du spectateur, le regard se heurte ici à une surface noire, ajoutant une touche de mystère. Bien que Madame de Senonnes soit en pleine lumière, seuls quelques éléments, sa nuque, le sommet des coussins et un élément de colonne, sont reflétés. L’inclinaison de son cou dans le miroir ne correspond pas à sa position face à l’artiste. La partie supérieure du tableau nous plonge ainsi dans un univers obscur, immatériel, irréel. Attribut féminin par excellence, le miroir est aussi une allusion au pouvoir de séduction de la jeune femme. Des billets, glissés dans le cadre, évoquent ses admirateurs. Le peintre y glisse sa propre carte, signant ainsi de manière originale. Une toile exemplaire des recherches plastiques d’Ingres : entre classicisme et modernité Après avoir obtenu le prix de Rome, Ingres part travailler à la Villa Médicis en 1806 et reste en Italie jusqu’en 1824. L’art italien marque durablement son travail et lui permet de se détourner peu à peu de son maître Jacques-Louis David (1748- 1825). Ainsi, s’il voulait à l’origine faire poser Madame de Senonnes allongée sur un sofa, à la manière de Madame Récamier (David, 1800, Paris, Musée du Louvre), il choisit finalement de la peindre assise, marquant ainsi une rupture formelle avec David. On retrouve dans ce portrait la délicatesse des courbes et la douceur du trait propres à Raphaël (Raffaello Sanzio, dit Raphaël, 1483-1520) dont Ingres admire le goût pour la ligne, les visages ovales et les proportions élégantes. Musée des beaux-arts de Nantes / Service des Publics / Zoé PRIEUR / Janvier 2014 Pourtant, au-delà d’une influence certaine de l’Italie, Ingres transcende les codes et se révèle être un maître de la composition, à laquelle il asservit tout son tableau, y compris le modèle. Ce sont les lignes sinueuses du corps qui créent la dynamique de la composition, quitte à prendre quelques libertés avec les proportions réelles : ici, le bras droit de Madame de Senonnes est démesurément allongé, ailleurs les dos de ses modèles sont étirés. Tout au long de son œuvre, Ingres joue de ces déformations pour servir ses compositions et donner à ses personnages une dimension expressive nouvelle. Sacrifiant la vérité anatomique et la vraisemblance, il étire les proportions, recherche les courbes ondulantes et les arabesques des contours. De ce tableau se dégage une extraordinaire sensualité. Ingres a su rendre les différentes matières avec un soin extrême, rendant presque palpables la délicatesse et la douceur des soies, du velours ou de la vaporeuse collerette de dentelle. Le traitement des somptueuses étoffes, le foisonnement d’accessoires, l’abondance de rouges et ors chatoyants dans la partie inférieure du tableau renforcent l’étrange présence du visage de Madame de Senonnes isolé sur le fond sombre dont se détache le reflet de sa nuque, à la fois sensuel et irréel. Ingres et le portrait Le portrait est un genre incontournable au XIX e siècle. Tous les peintres en réalisent afin de répondre à une demande croissante de la haute société. Ingres lui-même se plie à l’exercice de manière prolifique, en peignant soixante portraits en soixante ans de carrière ! Mais ces derniers n’ont été pour lui qu’un moyen de subsistance, et il se plaignait souvent de n’avoir pas le temps de faire autre chose. Les portraits lui ont néanmoins toujours permis d’exercer son originalité et de poursuivre ses recherches plastiques. Ingres reprend à plusieurs reprises la pose assise à mi-corps de Madame de Senonnes et l’usage d’un miroir qui reflète la tête du modèle en même temps qu’il donne une nouvelle dimension à la toile. L’artiste en quelques dates 1780 : Naissance à Montauban. Son père, Joseph Ingres, lui apprend le dessin et le violon. Entre à l’Académie des Beaux- Arts de Toulouse en 1791. 1797 : Arrivé à Paris dans l’atelier de Jacques-Louis David. 1801 : Prix de Rome avec Les ambassadeurs d’Agamemnon . 1806 : Arrivée à Rome et installation à la Villa Médicis. 1824 : Retour en France. Grand succès du Vœu de Louis XIII au Salon. 1829 : Nomination comme Professeur à l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris. 1834-1841 : Directeur de la Villa Médicis. 1855 : Rétrospective à l’Exposition Universelle. 1867 : Décès à Paris, à l’âge de 87 ans. Bonus Madame de Senonnes et les artistes James Tissot (1836-1902), élève d’Hippolyte Flandrin (1809-1864), fut très inspiré par l'univers d'Ingres. Ses modèles reprennent les poses des figures du grand portraitiste et les détails vestimentaires ou des bijoux sont autant d'hommages à Ingres. En août 1899, il demande une photographie du Portrait de Madame de Senonnes au conservateur du musée des beaux-arts de Nantes. Il en fera une copie en grisaille, témoignant de son admiration pour Ingres. C'est l'une des toutes dernières œuvres exécutées par Tissot. Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) a déclaré en 1917 : « Pour bien connaitre ce tableau, il faut aller à Nantes. Ce n’est pas comme tant d’Ingres que la photographie rend bien ; celui-là, il faut absolument le voir. Je donnerai dix Bertin pour un Madame de Senonnes. » Pour Claude Monet ce portrait « pourrait bien être le chef d’œuvre du peintre […] jamais Ingres n’atteignit si haut et avec tant de simplicité… » (Marc Elder, A Giverny, chez Claude Monet , 1924, Paris : Bernheim-Jeune éditeurs d’art). Louis Aragon rapporte qu’André Breton lui a envoyé en 1919 une reproduction de ce tableau avec la mention « Un des tableaux que j’ai le plus aimés » (Louis Aragon, Henri Matisse, roman , 1971, Paris : Ed. Gallimard). Musée des beaux-arts de Nantes / Service des Publics / Zoé PRIEUR / Janvier 2014 Pour aller plus loin • Œuvres - Raphaël (Raffaello Sanzio, dit), La Fornarina , c. 1518-1519, huile sur bois, 85x60 cm, Palais Barberini, Rome. - Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Comtesse D’Haussonville , 1845, huile sur toile, 131,1x92,1 cm, Frick Collection, New York. - Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Madame Moitessier , 1856, huile sur toile, 120x92 cm, National Gallery, Londres. - James Tissot, Portrait de Madame de Senonnes, copie en grisaille d’après Ingres , 1899, huile sur toile, en grisaille, 101,7x81,3 cm, Musée des beaux-arts, Nantes. • Sitographie http://mini-site.louvre.fr/ingres/flash_fr.html Musée des beaux-arts de Nantes / Service des Publics / Zoé PRIEUR / Janvier 2014 .
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