Philippe de Champaigne (Brussels 1602 – 1674 Paris)

The Veil of Veronica

inscribed in the lower part: Dedi genas meas vellentibus./Faciem meam conspuentibus./Isaia. 50. v. 6
oil on canvas
27 ⅝ x 22 inches (70.2 x 56 cm.)

Provenance:
Sale, Sotheby’s, Paris, 25 June 2008, lot 48.

Exhibited:
Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Art and Illusions: Masterpieces of Trompe l’oeil from Antiquity to the Present Day, 16 October 2009 – 24 January 2010, no. II.13.

Literature:
B. Dorival, Recherches sur les sujets sacrés et allégoriques gravés au XVIIème et au XVIIIème siècle d'après Philippe de Champaigne, Gazette des beaux-arts, July-August 1972, pp. 30-32; B. Dorival, Philippe de Champaigne, 1602-1674. La vie, l'œuvre, et le catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1976, vol. II, p. 142, no. 260 (lost work, reproduces the engraving by Plattemontagne, p. 450, no. 260); B. Dorival, Supplément au catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre de Philippe de Champaigne, Paris, 1992, p. 65 (lost work, reproduces the engraving by Kilian, p. 66, no. 504 and p. 67, no. 506).

Philippe de Champaigne, born in Brussels in 1602, is said to have possessed signs of artistic talent at a very early age.  In 1620, he entered the studio of Jacques Foucquier, a renowned landscape painter whose influence proved long lasting to Champaigne.  Around the age of nineteen, Champaigne moved to Paris and began working with Nicolas Poussin on the decoration of the Luxembourg Palace.  In the following years, the artist received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu, King Louis XIII, and Marie de’ Medici.  Later in life, Champaigne changed his art dramatically when he came under the somber influence of the Jansenist movement.

The present work reflects the Jansenist ideology of the painter, taking inspiration from the acheiropoieta, or miraculous icon, of the image of Christ.  As the Gospel of Nicodema recounts, Veronica encountered Jesus on the Via Dolorosa leading to Calvary.  When Christ stopped, she wiped the sweat off his face with her veil, and his image was miraculously imprinted on the cloth.  This story has inspired many artists and was widely depicted in European painting.  Philippe de Champaigne was one of the first artists to     paint this image in France, at a time when the Council of Trent required a strict adherence to iconographical rules.

The Veil of Veronica reveals a distinct Flemish influence in Champaigne’s realistic approach to the subject.  Christ's death is foreshadowed by his transparent flesh and the bluish color of his lips.  His facial expression portrays great serenity while also reflecting his inner suffering.  Philippe de Champaigne's deft talent is evident in his meticulous depiction of details, down to his rendition of individual hairs and crystalline droplets of tears.

A stone niche shelters the Holy Shroud.  The ledge is inscribed with the words "Dedi genas meas vellentibus. Faciem meam conspuentibus.”  As indicated under the inscription, the artist was inspired by a passage from the Old Testament (Isaiah's Letter, 50:6), which states: “I have given my cheeks to those that plucked them and given my face to those who spit on me.”  Champaigne was particularly interested in symbols and their meanings.  Thus, he placed a crown of thorns, symbol of the Passion, below the Latin inscription; he included the same inscription in his Ecce Homo in the Louvre.

The present painting is an important rediscovery in the work of Philippe de Champaigne.  Until recently, only two versions of Champaigne’s Veil of Veronica were known in the original: one dated 1630 in a private collection; the other executed in 1658, in the Brighton Museum.  Until now, this composition, which differs slightly from these two other versions, was known only through engravings.  The engraving from 1654 by Barthélemy Kilian gives us a terminus post quem for the execution of our picture.  A similar engraving by Nicolas de Plattemontagne, Philippe de Champaigne's student, was executed at an unknown date.  In addition, one should note that Mariette mentions yet another engraving of the same subject by Jean Morin, but the print is otherwise unknown (Mariette, Manuscript, T. II).  Besides assisting in the authentication of this painting, these engravings also attest to the popular devotion and religious fervor in France for such icons.