A painter from Normandy, Pierre-Nicolas Sicot began his career in France under the name Legrand. He studied at the École gratuite de dessin in Rouen under Jean-Baptiste Descamps, a former pupil and later collaborator of Nicolas de Largillière. He exhibited at the Salon de Lille as early as 1784, before presenting several works at the Paris Salons of 1796 and 1799, including The Death of Pliny, which disappeared during the Second Empire. Having settled in Switzerland in 1795, he adopted the name Legrand de Sérant — also written Legrand de Serrant — while maintaining close ties with France. After a final stay in Paris in 1814, he returned to Switzerland, where he remained until the end of his life.
The scene is probably set in a temple dedicated to Vesta, as suggested by the bronze statue on the right. An indistinct crowd recedes into the gloom, while the action is concentrated in the foreground. On the left, a group of grieving women, delineated by supple lines, is dominated by a central figure dressed in white, whose attire evokes that of the Vestal Virgins. Her wavering, almost ethereal presence contrasts with the movement of the male figures confronting her. A young man brandishes a sword while, with his other hand, grasping the toga of an older figure, as though attempting to prevent his escape. The traditional identification of the scene as Corésus and Callirhoé should be reconsidered. In Pausanias’s Description of Greece, the priest Corésus takes his own life in order to spare Callirhoé, with whom he is in love, from being sacrificed. The dynamics of the present scene do not appear compatible with this episode: the figure in the yellow toga plays a particularly active role, emphasised by the white smoke of the sacred fire enveloping him. The scene may instead allude to the condemnation of a Vestal Virgin. According to Roman ritual, a Vestal suspected of having broken her vow of chastity or allowed the sacred fire to go out was tried by the pontifex maximus. Yet the bearded man’s attempt to flee, as well as the determined attitude of the young man at the centre, sit uneasily with this interpretation and invite us to leave the identification of the subject open.
The strength of the present work lies in no small measure in its execution. The rapid brushwork, impasto and lively handling lend the figures a particular intensity. Legrand de Sérant sets against the muted tones of the background a brilliant range of yellows, blues and vermilion reds, concentrated on the protagonists and their draperies. The glowing reflections of the fabrics and the warm highlights animating the metal objects in the foreground testify to the refinement of his study of light, even in this preparatory sketch. A parallel may be found in The Continence of Scipio, acquired by the Musée Fabre in Montpellier as a work by Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, but subsequently associated by Philippe Bordes with the oeuvre of Legrand de Sérant. Of comparable dimensions, the two canvases share a rigorous composition and typological physiognomies, intended less to individualise facial features than to define volume. They also demonstrate the same attention to trompe-l’œil effects, particularly in the rendering of the liturgical vessels, enveloped in red draperies and enlivened by similar luminous reflections.
Another work by Legrand de Sérant that has recently appeared on the market allows this comparison to be extended: The Death of Socrates, an emblematic subject of the Neoclassical tradition and of Davidian painting. Legrand chooses the moment immediately following the dramatic climax, when the poison begins to take effect on the philosopher’s body. The overturned cup in the foreground finds an echo in the brazier, similarly positioned within the present composition. The two canvases also share the same chromatic hierarchy, with the principal figures, characterised by strong, clear colours, standing out against background figures dissolved into a brown-grey camaieu.
Through its expressive power, as well as its chromatic and painterly richness, the present work bears witness to the singularity of Legrand de Sérant. Philippe Bordes aptly describes him as ‘an audacious artist whose powerful individuality is only now beginning to be recognised’.
We are grateful to Monsieur Philippe Bordes for confirming the attribution of this work following first-hand examination.
D.G.
