Provenance
Marquis Philippe de Chennevières, Paris (Lugt 2073, lower center, in black ink); [his sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 4-7 April 1900, p. 43, lot 261] (photocopy of cat. in department file). [sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 23 Feb. 1972, lot 27] (photocopy of cat. in department file). [Seiferheld and Co., New York]
Accession Number
1972.98
Medium
black chalk, black chalk wash, and graphite with traces of brown wash and red chalk; framing lines in brown ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 31.2 x 46.4 cm (12 5/16 x 18 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 38.2 x 52.8 cm (15 1/16 x 20 13/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Delia E. Holden Fund
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Graphite & Pencil French
Background & Context
Background Story
Laurent de La Hyre (1606-1656) was a French painter known for the elegant, classically composed religious paintings that make him one of the most important painters of the French Baroque. The Crucified Christ as the Tree of Life with Monks and Nuns from c. 1639 depicts Christ on the cross as a tree of life with monks and nuns at its base, combining the religious subject of the Crucifixion with the allegorical subject of the Tree of Life. The c. 1639 date places this in La Hyre's most productive period, when he was producing the elegant, classically composed religious paintings that are his most accomplished works.
Cultural Impact
The Crucified Christ as the Tree of Life is important in the history of French Baroque painting because it demonstrates the elegant, classically composed manner that La Hyre brought to religious subjects as one of the most important painters of the French Baroque. La Hyre's elegant, classically composed religious paintings—combining the religious narrative of the Baroque with the classical composition that is his most distinctive contribution—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in French religious painting, and the c. 1639 painting shows this tradition at its most elegant.
Why It Matters
The Crucified Christ as the Tree of Life is La Hyre's elegant French Baroque: the Crucifixion combined with the allegorical Tree of Life rendered in the classically composed manner of one of the most important painters of the French Baroque. The c. 1639 painting shows the combination of religious narrative with allegorical meaning and classical composition that makes La Hyre one of the most accomplished French religious painters.
