Antoine RIVALZ (Toulouse, 1667 - 1735) Saint Cecilia playing the organ Oil on canvas 133 x 111 cm Provenance: Former collection of Monsieur Montels, organist of the Daurade church in Toulouse, who lent it to the Salon of 1782; Anonymous sale ; Montargis, Hôtel des ventes, Me Baron, 10 December 2000, n° 13 ; Private collection, Bretagne Exhibitions : Peut-être Toulouse, Explication des peintures, sculptures et autres ouvrages dont l'exposition est faite par l'Académie Royale de Peinture, Sculpture et Architecture de Toulouse, dans une salle de l'Hôtel de Ville, 1756, no. 9 Peut-être Toulouse, Explication des peintures, sculptures et autres ouvrages dont l'exposition est faite par l'Académie Royale de Peinture, Sculpture et Architecture de Toulouse, dans une salle de l'Hôtel de Ville, 1780, n° 168 Toulouse, Explication des peintures, sculptures et autres ouvrages dont l'exposition est faite par l'Académie Royale de Peinture, Sculpture et Architecture de Toulouse, dans une salle de l'Hôtel de Ville, 1782, n° 96 Perhaps Exposition artistique et archéologique, Albi, 1863, n° 237 Les Miniaturistes du Capitole de 1610 à 1790, Toulouse, Musée Paul Dupuy, 1956, CCLXXXVIII Bibliography: Robert Mesuret, Les Expositions de l'Académie royale de Toulouse de 1751 à 1792, Toulouse, 1972, p. 397, no. 4338 Jean Penent, Antoine Rivalz, 1667-1735: le Romain de Toulouse, Toulouse, 2004, p. 256, no. 516 After a stay in Rome from 1690 to 1700, Toulouse-born Antoine Rivalz returned to his native city, where he made a lasting impact on artistic production. He was involved in work on the town hall and took on numerous private and religious commissions. He trained a number of Toulouse painters, including Pierre Subleyras. It was at his instigation that an academy was created in 1726. This project, which the painter had been working on since 1720, was accepted by the Capitouls after he had painted Les Capitouls de 1724-1725 with the marriage of Louis XV and Marie Leszcynska for the Grand Consistoire room at Toulouse City Hall in 1726. He also took part in exhibitions organised by the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Toulouse, the first of which was held in 1751, the year the institution was founded. The Salon was then held every year without interruption until 1791. This regularity, exceptional for provincial academies, testifies to the vigour of municipal, religious and private commissions. The works exhibited included not only works by the academicians, but also pieces loaned by local amateurs and collectors. The booklets of the Salons provide us with valuable information on the names of the former owners of the works exhibited. The painting we are presenting was commissioned privately, as it belonged to the organist of the chapter of the Basilique de la Daurade, whose patron saint was Saint Cécile. According to Jean Penent's catalogue raisonné, the painting's former owner, Jean Montels, lived at 11, rue du Coq d'Inde in 1774 (see Jules Chalande, "Histoire des rues de Toulouse", Mémoire de l'Académie des sciences, 1915, 55, p. 1226). The author also points out that the cherub's face can be compared to the face of a lover in the fragment of the Capitouls of 1724-1725 with the marriage of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska (Toulouse, Musée des Augustins, no. Ro 721), which is perhaps a clue to the dating of the work. Antoine RIVALZ (Toulouse, 1667 - 1735) 133 x 111 cm