01 Work, Michel Corneille the Elder's Death of Virginia, with Footnotes

Michel Corneille the Elder

The Death of Virginia

Oil on canvas, unframed

190 x 117cm; 74¾ by 46 in.

Private collection

Estimated for 150,000 - 250,000 EUR in June 2022

The subject recounts the death of Virginia, daughter of a centurion in the Roman army, condemned to marry a slave by one of the magistrates of the decemvir, Appius Claudius Sabinus, because she had rejected his advances. She was stabbed to death by her own father in a public place, because he refused to see her lose her freedom. This violent episode of a father sacrificing his daughter in the name of freedom led to a revolt by the Roman people and the fall of the regime. More on this painting

Michel Corneille the Elder (c. 1601 – 1664) was a French painter, etcher, and engraver.

Corneille was born in Orléans. He was one of many who studied with the celebrated master Simon Vouet, who strongly influenced French painting of the early 17th century.

In 1648, Corneille was one of the founders of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running. He became its rector in 1656.

Corneille devoted himself to historical paintings. He was an excellent colorist and his early style resembled that of Simon Vouet; later his work had all the merits and all the faults of the post-Raphaelite, or decadent, "sweet", school of Italian art. He was long employed in the decoration of churches in Paris, his masterpiece being the celebrated "St. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra", painted for the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. His etched and engraved work differed very little from that of the Carracci and of his two sons. It was chiefly reproductive. Notable examples are the "Murder of the Innocents", after Raphael, and the "Virgin Suckling the Infant Jesus", after Lodovico Carracci. He died in Paris in 1664. More on Michel Corneille the Elder

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