Pierre Charles le Mettay - Nymphs and Satyrs

PIERRE CHARLES LE METTAY
(Fécamp 1726 - Paris 1759)
Nymphs and Satyrs
signed ‘LE METTAY’ (lower left, on the urn)
oil on canvas
216.5 x 170.8 cm (85¼ x 67¼ in)
Provenance: Sénateur Viellard, Château du Molay-Littry, Normandy.
i
n this monumental scene of Bacchic
indulgence, Pierre-Charles Le Mettay demonstrates the precocious
talent, which made him one of François Boucher’s (1703-1770) (see
inventory) finest pupils, before his premature death. This painting
depicts mythological personages in a fantasy landscape, where in
the background stands the rounded colonnade of a derelict temple. The
composition is almost entirely dominated by the four adult figures, two
female and two male. Leaning seductively, the nude body of the first nymph
provides a primary focal point around which the rest of the composition is
constructed, her languid figure forming a long, supple diagonal. Together
with her companion, they form an image of nubile female beauty, a
recurring subject in French Rococo art of the mid-eighteenth century. The
pale skin of the nymphs, picked out in white and shades of pink, contrasts
with the male figures’ swarthy complexion. The two satyrs recline lazily on
the ground. To the right of the painting, three chubby infants devour juicy
grapes, around a goat. One of the children is shown feeding the goat the
grapes. On either side of the main group, trees frame the composition, the
one on the left entwined by a laden grape-vine.
Rather than depict a specific mythological story, Le Mettay has
chosen to paint a more general celebration of Bacchic life, featuring the
nymphs and satyrs who are closely associated with the Roman god of
wine. The male figure, with his back to us, reclines on the pelt of a
leopard, an animal sacred to Bacchus, and leans backwards to fetch a
jug, which is presumably filled with wine. Satyrs were the attendants of
Bacchus, and from him derived their hairy, goat-like bodies, and bearded
faces. They were characterised by their lecherous and drunken behaviour,
and as the second satyr receives the bunch of grapes from the nymph,
there is an underlying sexual connotation. This figure has the pointed
ears and syrinx (or pan-pipes) that were associated with the god Pan, who
personified lust and is often seen in Bacchus’ retinue. In the lower righthand corner three children and a goat look slightly woozy, as they cram
grapes into their mouths.
Pierre Charles Le Mettay, The Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs, 1757,
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lons-le-Saunier (Figure 1)
The painting is crammed with symbolic motifs and references,
relating to Bacchus and his retinue. For example, in addition to the one to
which the child clings, the capitals of the background temple are carved
with goats’ heads. The goat is often depicted drawing Bacchus’ chariot,
and is frequently used in images of both the god and satyrs, due to the
animal’s association with lust. Similarly ivy, which is found throughout
the present work, is another typical Bacchic attribute. Le Mettay extends
this rich symbolism to minor details, such as the pitcher, decorated with
a snake, again a reference to traditional scenes of Baccanalia. The present
work can be seen as a general celebration of Bacchic indulgence. It is
possible, as there is a lack of distinct narrative which is a feature of Le
Mettay’s other mythological works, that the picture represents Autumn,
a season often personified by Bacchus and symbolised by grapes and ivy,
which feature so prominently in the present work.
Le Mettay died young, and as a result he has a limited oeuvre. He
only lived long enough to exhibit once at the Paris Salon, the preeminent
event in Western art at the time, and the work he showed there, The
Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs, is highly comparable to the present
work (fig. 1). The major difference between the paintings is that The
Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs has a clear narrative, as Mercury
delivers Jupiter’s illegitimate son to the nymphs, in order to protect
him from Juno’s wrath. The viewer’s gaze is directed to the key area of
the narrative, as Mercury hands Bacchus over, by the central position,
and the gazes of the other figures. Figures, such as Mercury, are clearly
indicated by attributes and a contemporary audience would easily have
understood the scene. The fact that Le Mettay was clearly capable of this
narrative clarity underlines how the present work is deliberately a more
general scene, without specific narrative.
Both Nymphs and Satyrs and The Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs
have large portrait formats, which emphasises the elongated elegance of
the female figures, which are such a key element of both works. Another
feature of both works Le Mettay’s heavy use of symbolism. As both pictures
François Boucher, Venus and Vulcan, 1754,
The Wallace Collection, London (Figure 3)
Pierre Charles Le Mettay, Nymph being Wooed by a River God, c.1746,
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva (Figure 2)
have Bacchic subjects these symbols are similar, such as the extensive use
of ivy and goats in both works. The motif of chubby babies appears in
both works, and serves to animate the scenes, providing diverting detail.
In terms of composition, the relationship between the figures is extremely
sophisticated, with gesture and glance used to harmonise the works. The
Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs can be considered one of the high
points in Le Mettay’s short career, being the only work he exhibited at
the prestigious Salon, and it is clear that Nymphs and Satyrs compares
favourably to it.
The underlying sexual connotations evident in Nymphs and Satyrs
are typical of French painting of this period, and the theme of seduction
also appears in Le Mettay’s Nymph being Wooed by a River God (fig. 2). As
in the present work, central to the composition is the contrast between
a beautiful and delicate female nude, and the swarthy and rugged male
figure. His lustful expression is reminiscent of the one worn by the satyr
receiving grapes in the present work. The nymph, although slightly more
demur than the pair in Nymphs and Satyrs, is hardly fighting against her
suitors advances. Although the present work is a more complicated and
detailed painting, this theme of seduction features is clearly a recurring
one in Le Mettay’s mythological works.
The present work is typical of Rococo mythological production:
it features nubile women in a state of almost complete undress, lewd
satyrs and chubby infants. Since the Renaissance, the gods of pagan
Antiquity, and other mythological subjects, had been used as a pretext
for the apotheosis of the naked body. Rococo painting continued this
tradition, but revolutionised the canons of representation, so that they
became more suited to the vogue for the intime which flourished in
the eighteenth century. The depictions of female figures are no longer
vast and voluptuous images of buxom women, but representations of
fragile girls, graceful and delicate, less robust in their sensuality which is
however very perceptible. In the present work, the female figures are very
reminiscent of this trend: and show the influence of Le Mettay’s master
Boucher, whose work of this period contains many comparable nude
figures, for example the Wallace Collection’s Venus and Vulcan (fig. 3). As
in the present work, the focus of Venus and Vulcan is Boucher’s depiction
of the idealised nude figures, and the erotic inference between the central
protagonists. In both works the female figure leans seductively, their skin
a bright white, as they tempt the male figure. These male figures, in
contrast, have deep tans and their muscular physiques contrast markedly
with their partner’s delicate bodies. Although the sexual chemistry
between the couples is a focal point in both works, both Boucher and Le
Mettay fill the paintings with diverting detail, which contextualise the
central narratives and further animate the scenes.
After Pierre Charle Le Mettay, Diane au Bain, published by Jacques François
Chéreau, The British Museum, London (Figure 4)
Château du Molay-Littry, Normandy (Figure 5)
It is clear that, like much of Boucher’s work, it is the female nude that
is the focus much of Le Mettay’s output. This is true to an even greater
extent in his work Diane au Bain (fig. 4).¹ Although narrative is alluded
to, through the figure of Acteon, who can be glimpsed through the trees
in the background, and the hound who is about to tear him to pieces, the
depiction of Diana is very much the central theme in the work. Although
Nymphs and Satyrs is a more sophisticated work, the depiction of Diana
further underlines the themes that recurred throughout Le Mettay’s
work.
Le Mettay was born in Normandy in 1726. He left the region in 1742
to become a pupil of Boucher in Paris, and in 1748 won the prestigious
Prix de Rome, which enabled him to study for a period of three to five
years at the Palazzo Mancini, the second home of the Académie de France
in Rome, where he stayed until 1753. There, he developed his art through
copies after the Old Masters and drawings of ancient monuments, but
also undertook private commissions, such as the two altarpieces of the
Resurrection of Lazarus and the Feast in the House of Simon that he executed
for the church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption in Neuville-sur-Saône,
near Lyon, France (in situ). Le Mettay’s work was also influenced by that
of Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752), the director of the Académie de
France in Rome.
After his sojourn in Rome, which he tried unsuccessfully to prolong,
Le Mettay travelled round Italy for a further three years, staying in Naples
and Bologna, then in Piedmont in 1755-56, where he painted several
altarpieces for churches around Turin. Around this time, he also started
producing marine paintings in the style of Joseph Vernet (1714-1789). On
his return to Paris, he was admitted into the Académie Royale de Peinture et
Sculpture in 1757, and in the same year he exhibited at the Paris Salon, for
the only time in his career, with the Infant Bacchus Restored to the Nymphs.
He also received the title of Peintre du Roi. In addition to his numerous
altar-pieces, including a Scourging of Christ for the church of Saint-Etienne
in his native town of Fécamp, Le Mettay painted a number of cabinet
pictures, chiefly of mythological and genre subjects.
The present work used to hang in the magnificent Château du MolayLittry in Normandy (fig. 5). Although the original château is much older,
its present appearance dates from 1833, when Edouard, Count of Chabrol
de Crousol, himself an avid art collector, transformed and extended it.
Sénateur Viellard was a wealthy industrialist and served in the French
parliament for many years.
¹ The original painting was sold at Christies, Monaco on 3rd July 1993, lot 55.