Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria
Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria
Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Jean-François SABLET<br />
Swiss 1745–1819<br />
Portrait <strong>of</strong> a Revolutionary<br />
Portrait d’un révolutionnaire<br />
1794<br />
oil on wood panel<br />
<strong>National</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Victoria</strong>, Melbourne<br />
Purchased with funds donated by Andrew Sisson, 2010 2010.514<br />
While the market for numerous types <strong>of</strong><br />
art vanished in the Revolution, the genre<br />
<strong>of</strong> portraiture flourished and many artists<br />
turned to portraiture to survive. Sablet, a<br />
landscape painter by preference, acquired<br />
prominence as a painter <strong>of</strong> patriotic portraits<br />
and republican heroes. The plain and the<br />
humble became qualities to celebrate in the<br />
new democratic portraiture <strong>of</strong> 1794, seen<br />
here in the unidentified sitter’s reddened<br />
nose and rough skin. The portrait contains<br />
clear hints <strong>of</strong> his Revolutionary credentials,<br />
such as the tricolore sash <strong>of</strong> a mayor.<br />
© COPYRIGHT<br />
This document remains the property <strong>of</strong> the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Victoria</strong> and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.<br />
31
Change language