17TH CENTURY LORRAINE SCHOOL, FOLLOWER OF GEORGES DE LA TOUR SAINT SEBASTIAN CARED FOR BY SAINT IRENE Canvas Minor damages and old restorations 17th century Lorraine school, foll. of G. de La Tour, Saint Sebastian cared for by Saint Irene, canvas 58,3 x 72,8 CM - 23 x 28,6 IN. Bibliography Jean-Pierre Cuzin, La Tour, Paris, Citadelles & Mazenod, 2021, p. 191 (reproduced fig. 176) and p. 193 (fig. 178). PROVENANCE Since 1800 in the Tixier de la Chapelle family, at the château de la Chapelle Saint-Martial in Creuse. Remained in this château by descent. Thanks to the notice published by Don Calmet in 1751, we know that Georges de la Tour painted two versions of Saint Sébastien dans une nuit, in width, one for Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, around 1632 (1), and the other for Louis XIII who had it placed in his room in the Louvre, around 1638 (2). Both are lost and known only from copies. Jean-Pierre Cuzin (op. cit) has shown that around ten of them derive from the first version, painted for the Duke of Lorraine: they feature a feathered helmet on the left and Irène is wearing a gathered shirt with a closed collar (3). Only our painting, and another in a private collection, reproduce La Tour's replica presented to the king, Saint Sebastian at Night. There are several variations on the first ducal version: on the left, a tree stump can be seen - in place of the helmet - and a few dusk clouds are visible in the background; the saint's collar is now indented in a V-shape. The decorative embroidery on the fabrics is more detailed, and the whole is more ornate and delicate, as can be seen here with the touching detail of the tear running down Irene's cheek. (1) The painting surely predates the Duke's abdication in February 1634. (2) La Tour was in Paris in 1638 and 1639, received a large sum of money and was then qualified as the king's painter. (3) Some of these copies were sometimes attributed to Étienne de la Tour: Fort Worth (Texas), Kimbell Art Museum (formerly in Kansas City, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art), 105 x 139 CM ; Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 105 x 139 CM ; Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 109 x 131 CM ; Detroit, The Institute of Arts, 111 x 124 CM ; Évreux, Musée municipal, 82.7 x 107.5 CM; Honfleur, Musée Eugène-Boudin, dépôt de la chapelle Notre-Dame-De-Grâce, 94 x 134 CM, Private collection, 105 x 135.5 CM -formerly Château de Launay, dimensions unknown-; another of unknown location, 102 x 136 CM).