Lot 188: Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé (Paris 1782-1859)

Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé (Paris 1782-1859)
View of Pompei near the Tomb of Princess Mamea
signed 'T. TURPIN 1822' (lower left corner)
oil on canvas
21 7/8 x 28¼ in. (55.5 x 72 cm.)
with inscriptions 'le Tombeau de Mamea' (on the stretcher) and '638 Turpin de Crissé' (on the frame)

Paris, Salon of 1822, no. 1270 'Autre vue de Pompéi près du tombeau de Mamea'.
Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé, 16 December 2006-15 April 2007, no. 22.

F. Garnier, Turpin de Crissé, Mémoire de maîtrise, Sorbonne, Paris, 1984, IV, no. 82.
F. Garnier, Turpin de Crissé, DEA histoire de l'art, Sorbonne, Paris, 1986, IV, no. 94.
C. Chaine, Turpin de Crissé, Mémoire de DEA Paris, 2001, no. 51.
C. Chaine, Turpin de Crissé, unpublished Ph.D. diss., Paris, Sorbonne, 2006, IV, no. 56, p. 281.
P. Le Nouënne and C. Chaine, Lancelot-Théodore Turpin de Crissé, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2006, p. 86, no. 22.

The present painting by Lancelot-Théodore, Comte de Turpin de Crissé was painted in 1822 and entitled Une autre vue de Pompi prs du tombeau de Mamea to differentiate it from Vue prise de Pompéi, dans la rue de Tombeaux that he exhibited at the Salon of the same year. The catalogue specifies the subject of this view: 'In the background one sees the mountains of Castellamore, Sorrento and the island of Capri'. Pompei is an important site of funerary art because of its variety of architecture as well as for its decorations and tombs in hemycicle exedrae, of which the tomb of the princess Mamea is a beautiful example.

Lancelot-Théodore de Turpin de Crissé received his first instruction from his father, the landscape artist Hemi-Roland Turpin de Crissé. He exhibited for the first time at the 1806 Salon and received the gold medal for his paintings of landscapes and architecture. The Count de Choiseul-Gouffier, an archaeologist and art connoisseur, took him under his wing in 1801. He sent the young artist to study in Switzerland in 1803 and Italy in 1806-1807 and commissioned numerous works from him. When Turpin de Crissé returned to France, he was welcomed by Napoleon's court. Empress Josephine, Queen Hortense, and Prince Eugène bought several paintings from him. In 1809, he was named Josephine's chamberlain and was brought into the royal circle a few months before her death in the latter half of 1814. During the Restoration and after returning from Italy, he was named a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts and became the general inspector of fine arts in 1824. In 1830, Turpin de Crissé abandoned these positions and retired to form a collection that he left to the town of Angers after his death.