Dice Players
Nicolas Tournier (Montbeliard 1590 – Toulouse 1639)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1620 - 1625
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1595 x 2002 x 125 mm
Place of origin
Rome
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 609026
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Dice Players by Nicolas Tournier (Montbeliard 1590 – Toulouse 1639), formerly with false signature in monogram - on the table in the foreground: G.F.B.[arbieri] da C..../ 16.. [1978: read as Cento 1645] Group portrait of four half length figures; a man in centre, wearing red with black hat throwing dice against two soldiers standing at the left; the fourth figure is seated on table at right.
Full description
In this impressive canvas the Frenchman Nicolas Tournier revisits the theme of gamblers and gamesters, as pioneered by Caravaggio some twenty years earlier, but modified through the lens of one of his most accomplished followers, Bartolomeo Manfredi. Four partially armed youths are playing an illegal game of dice in an ambiguous setting: it is unclear whether they are playing indoors or down an alleyway, and they seem to have made a makeshift gaming table from an antique sarcophagus or architectural fragment (a detail that frequently appears in both Manfredi and Tournier’s works). The players’ costumes denote their modest wealth – the man who has thrown the dice wears a fur hat and a damask sleeve emerges from under his armoured breastplate. The menacing presence of a man in full armour, wearing a helmet and resting on his lance, has both an aesthetic and narrative function: this figure provides an effective compositional framing device but also lends the scene a greater sense of foreboding – as with Antiveduto Gramatica’s ‘Card Players’, we sense that these gamesters are just moments away from violence. The figure types, their costumes and specific compositional motifs recur in other works by Tournier, such as ‘The Denial of St Peter’ (Prado, Madrid). There, a boy wears the same diamond-quilted doublet, shirt and armoured gorget as the bare-headed youth on the right in this painting. The latter’s pose, sitting astride a stone block and leaning in towards the action, is replicated in the Prado painting and his proximity to the bearded figure in the centre of our painting would suggest an alliance between them: he is not merely a spectator but an interested party. Indeed, in the Prado picture he has already grasped the hilt of his weapon, while here the youth’s left hand is placed firmly on his hip, with the sword hidden from view but closely within reach. The central figure’s hand is delicately posed on the gaming table, an ingenious narrative and compositional divide which concentrates our attention on the dice that have just been thrown. The dramatic tension is heightened by the stark lighting which plunges the gambler’s face into darkness and illuminates the watchful expression of the bearded man, whose seemingly relaxed pose contrasts with the alertness in his face. It is undeniable that Tournier drew heavily on Manfredi’s example, not just for his gaming subjects but also for the arrangement of his tightly cropped compositions, and it is generally accepted that he began his artistic career in Rome in Manfredi’s workshop (though there is no documentary evidence for this). Our painting has rightly been considered Tournier’s first great independent masterpiece in Rome and, when compared to Manfredi’s works of equivalent subject matter, Tournier imbues his scenes with greater naturalism and dramatic intensity. The other over-riding influence in Tournier’s work is that of his compatriot and contemporary Valentin de Boulogne, whose technique of painting from the live model Tournier emulated. Here, the rightmost youth’s naked arms are visible through his purple sleeves, suggesting that Tournier may have painted the figure first and only subsequently ‘clothed’ him. He certainly seems to have used real people as models, as the recurrence of particular figures indicates: the rusty-bearded and moustachioed man appears in so many of Tournier’s paintings that it has led to the suggestion that he might be a self portrait. Despite compositional and technical similarities with both Manfredi and Valentin, Tournier’s works distinguish themselves with a smoother application of paint and an increase in textures – here, soft fur contrasts with silky damask and the metallic gleam of armour. The painting’s association with Manfredi dates back to 1960, when it was exhibited as such: this is unsurprising given the common motifs to be found in both artists’ works, and confusion over the respective authorship dates back even to Tournier’s own lifetime. The painting is first recorded at Attingham in a handwritten catalogue of 1847, with an attribution to Caravaggio (under which it was probably acquired). Although this was five years after the death of William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842), he seems the most likely purchaser of the picture. The 3rd Baron served as British ambassador in Italy from 1808 to 1832, returning to Shropshire on the death of his older brother who had encountered financial difficulties, abandoned Attingham, and fled to Italy, acutely aware that he would need to refurnish the house he was shortly to inherit, following sales in 1825, 1827 and 1829, which had left Attingham denuded. Indeed, a letter of 1828 suggests that the 3rd Baron was having ‘some difficulty in removing pictures from Rome’ and there is further evidence that he was exporting pictures to England in 1831. It is reasonable to assume that Tournier’s painting may have been purchased then, as the picture’s Italian late neoclassical frame also suggests. The Tournier was probably moved to the Picture Gallery in 1856-7 and is recorded there in a list of 1898 as ‘B. da Conte, 1645’ (intended to read ‘da Cento’). This identification as a Guercino based on the misreading of a false signature and date (since removed) on the architectural fragment lower corner. In 1898 therefore, until at least 1928, the painting was considered by Guercino, an artist whose naturalism often led to his being associated with paintings by Caravaggio and his followers, and whose fame in Britain far surpassed that of Tournier, who has only recently been the subject of closer study. Text adapted from Letizia Treves, Beyond Caravaggio, exh. cat. 2016
Provenance
Attingham Park collection (in East Drawing Room) before 1847 (in catalogue with attribution to Caravaggio) and probably acquired by William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842) who was British amabassador in Italy between 1808 and 1832; in PictureGallery in 1856-7 and recorded there in list of 1898 as 'B. da Conte, 1645' [Guercino]; in May 1913 Inventory p.63 & and in 1928 Catalogue, no. 22, p. 9; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Credit line
Attingham Park, The Berwick Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
On front of canvas: G.F.B(arbieri) da C(ento) [ie.Guercino] 1645 (?) (bears false signature in monogram) On stretcher (bottom): ATT/P/090 On reverse of frame (top): The Arts Council of Great Britain / Exhibition ... National Trust / Catalogue No. .. 1 / Artist .. B. Manfredi / Title ... Dice Players / Owner ...National Trust (Attingham Park), (chalk) 3n (?), ink on label EX ATTINGHAM PARK THE DICE PLAYERS, (ink) 6 On reverse of frame (bottom): W.F. & S. No. (in ink) 571 (F), (pencil) stress ring (crossed), On reverse of frame (bottom): ATT/P/090
Makers and roles
Nicolas Tournier (Montbeliard 1590 – Toulouse 1639), artist
Exhibition history
Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery, London, 2016 - 2017, no.cat.41 Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 2016 - 2017, no.cat.41 Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2016 - 2017, no.cat.41
References
Portrait Groups from National Trust Collections (exh cat) Arts Council of Great Britain (touring exh), National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wakefield, Luton, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, Coventry, 1960-1, no. 1, p. 7 Caravaggio and the North (Gert Jan van der Sman), Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 21 June 2016- 18 September 2016, pp.170-171 Beyond Caravaggio (by Letizia Treves), The National Gallery, London: 12 October 2016- 15 January 2017; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 11 February - 14 May 2017; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, 17 June - 24 September 2017, cat.41, pp.150-151 Nicolas Tournier 1590-1639. Un peinture caravaggesque, exh. cat. (A. Hémery), Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, 2001, no. 6, pp. 91-2