Lot 79: *FELIX AUVRAY (1800-1833)

indistinctly signed and dated bottom center ...vray/ 1829 oil on canvas Auvray was born in Cambrai but moved to Valenciennes at a very early age. After having great success in that city, he moved to Paris where he exhibited in the Salon of 1824. Shortly after this time he traveled to Italy where he is recorded in Florence in 1826 and in Rome a few months later. The present composition appears to be one of many sketches by Auvray for the painting that once hung in the Hôtel de Ville de Valenciennes (see fig. 1). That picture was exhibited in the Salon of 1827 and later destroyed in a fire in 1940. The composition, created to inspire national pride, depicts Pépin, the first Carolingian King of the Franks (751-768) seated next to his wife, Berthe, with their two eldest children, Charlemagne and Carloman, holding a book of national rights. With the consent of the Pope, Pépin proclaimed himself King in the year 751 and in return for the Church's allegiance, Pépin defended Rome against the Lombards in 754 and 756.

Collection of Jûles Pillion, by 1909