Philosophy unveiling Truth
Louis Jean François Lagrenée (Paris 1725 – Paris 1805)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1771 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on copper
Measurements
152 x 181 mm (6 x 7 1/8 in)
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 732248
Summary
Oil painting on copper, Philosophy Unveiling Truth by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée the elder (Paris 1725 – Paris 1805), signed and dated: L.Lagrenee 1771. By allegorical means, this painting depicts the revelation of truth by the application of philosophy. The female personification of Philosophy on the right-hand side of the composition is seen in the moment of discovering the beauty of unadorned Truth by lifting away her white drapery. The picture was bought directly from the artist by the Hoare family for a sum of 300 French Livres under the title La Philosophie qui dévoile la Vanité.
Provenance
Commissioned by the Duc de Choiseul (1719 – 1785) and bought from the artist by the Hoare family, then by descent; given to the National Trust along with the house, its grounds, and the rest of contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Credit line
Stourhead, The Hoare Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Louis Jean François Lagrenée (Paris 1725 – Paris 1805), artist
References
Sandoz 1961 Marc Sandoz, 'Paintings by Lagrénée the Elder at Stourhead', Burlington Magazine, CIII, 1961, pp.392-3, fig.29