Flemish school from the first half of the 17th century, Genève le lendemain de l'Escalade le 12 décembre 1602 ou Vue de la ville de Genève prise des hauteurs de la Batie , oil on panel, 50x88 cm Provenance: François Tronchin Collection, by succession to Robert Tronchin, Bessinge cabinet, displayed in the Salle d'Armes, Acquired in 1938 by Xavier Givaudan (1867-1966), then by succession to the current owner. Bibliography: François Tronchin, Catalogue des tableaux de mon cabinet, 1765, p. 17-18, no. 25, Jules Crosnier, Bessinge, Nos Anciens et leurs OEuvres, Recueil genevois d'Art, Genève, 1908, p. 9, ill, Les Anciennes vues de Genève par Cl. Chastillon, gravées par Merian et Poinsard , in Genava, T. X, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève, 1962, p. 85-91, ill., Renée Loche, Catalogue des collections de François Tronchin , in: Genava, T. XXII, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève, 1974, p.182, no. 351, ill. b/w p.183 Exhibition: Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Genève à travers les âges: exposition rétrospective du deuxième millénaire de Genève 58 avant J.-C.-1942, 1942, p. 20, Musée Rath, De Genève à l'Ermitage, les collections François Tronchin, Genève, 1974, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Anciennes représentations de l'Escalade, 08 décembre 1977 au 15 janvier 1978, no. 18 Note: Although this painting is relatively well documented, the date of its entry into the Tronchin collections is not known. At Bessinge, the painting was displayed among sixteenth-century armour and weapons, including the armour of Remy Tronchin, who distinguished himself in the service of the City of Geneva in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. His son Theodore Tronchin (1582-1657), a renowned theologian of his time, married the adopted granddaughter of Theodore de Bèze. GIVAUDAN - TRONCHIN COLLECTION The brothers Xavier (1867-1966) and Léon (1875-1936) Givaudan enjoyed success thanks to a flourishing industry producing synthetic perfumes, chemicals and soaps. Xavier Givaudan moved to Geneva in 1917, where he bought a town house on the corner of rue de la Cloche and quai du Mont-Blanc. In 1938, after renting it out for several years, he acquired the Domaine de Bessinge, a 50-hectare property on the site of the present-day Cologny golf course. Shortly after his death, the heirs sold the estate, while preserving a large part of the collections, including the paintings included in this catalogue. Lots 2015, 2016 and 2018 to 2022 come from this estate and appear on the market for the first time. Bessinge was owned by the famous Tronchin family, who played a key role in Geneva for almost three centuries. The estate was purchased in 1764 by Jacob Tronchin (1717-1801) and the residence built in 1840 by Henri Tronchin (1794-1865). It remained in the family's hands until it was acquired by Xavier Givaudan. Doctor Théodore Tronchin (1709-1781) was renowned throughout Europe for his medical skills and for inoculating the first children of crowned heads with vaccines (lots 2015 and 2022). The art collection really took off with Councillor François Tronchin (1704-1798). Tronchin was an eminent member of the Geneva patriarchate, a member of the Conseil des Deux-Cents and the Petit Conseil de Genève, a writer and friend of Diderot, and brought Voltaire to Geneva. A renowned politician and man of letters, he is now famous as a major art collector and painting expert, renowned from Paris to St Petersburg, as evidenced by the sale of his first collection to Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1770. On his death, Jean-Armand Tronchin, his nephew, had the artist Prud'hon and the first director of the Louvre, Vivant-Denon, choose thirty paintings to form the core of the Tronchin family art collection. Piguet has already auctioned paintings and objects from this property in March, September and December 2017. Today, we have the pleasure and honour of auctioning a remarkable group of works from this collection, including an impressive view of Geneva (lot 2018), showing the city and its ramparts at the time of the Escalade... Flemish school from the first half of the 17th c. - Genève le lendemain de l'Escalade" or "Vue de la ville de Genève prise des hauteurs de la Batie" (Geneva the day after the Escalade) This work, initially attributed to M.C. Salomon and J. Callot, is based on a drawing of this view of Geneva by Claude Chastillon, produced around 1595 and distributed in engravings by Mathieu Merian (1615) and Poinssart (1640). Given the style and use of the oak panel, this work was probably produced by a Flemish artist in the first half of the 17th century. This work is particularly exceptional, not only being one of the earliest representations of Geneva in the 17th century, but also illustrating the city's most famous episode: the Battle of the Escalade, the day after the unsuccessful attempt to invade the city by troops from the Duchy of Savoy on the night of 11-12 December 1602. If you look closely at the painting, you will discover a number of clever details that bear witness to the importance of this episode in Geneva's history. You can see soldiers working between the Arve and the ramparts, two ladders against the walls of La Treille, a cannon firing on the attackers from the Bastion de l'Oye, and the defenders of the city inside the walls (MAH, Geneva, 1943). Although the subject was frequently taken up by engravers, this episode has rarely been treated in painting, which is what makes this work so rare. It embodies Geneva's exploits against Savoy, a powerful symbol of resistance and courage in the city's history that enabled it to retain its independence. Its provenance also makes it an exceptional piece, as it belonged to the collections of the famous collector and patron François Tronchin (1704-1798).