BERGERET, Pierre-Nolasque - b. 1782 Bordeaux, d. 1863 Paris - WGA

BERGERET, Pierre-Nolasque

(b. 1782 Bordeaux, d. 1863 Paris)

French painter, printmaker and designer. He first trained with Pierre Lacour the Elder (1745-1814) in Bordeaux and on going to Paris studied with François André Vincent and then Jacques-Louis David. While a pupil of David, he became friendly with both François-Marius Granet and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

From Bergeret’s earliest Salon exhibit of 1806, Homage Offered to Raphael After His Death which was acquired by Napoleon for Josephine’s painting gallery at Malmaison, he specialized in the popular historical genre of lives of the artists. Just as the Bourbons and their sympathizers appreciated historical genre paintings of their illustrious ancestors, artists of the time sought to identify with historical precdents. Anecdotes from the Renaissance, when artists enjoyed social prominence and a supportive system of patronage, were particularly popular. Among his many pictures devoted to this subject matter were Francis I in Titian’s Studio, 1807 (le Puy-en-Velay, Musée Crozatier), and Charles V in Titian’s Studio, 1808 (Bordeaux, Musée des Beaux-Arts). Bergeret clearly researched the historical details of these works, including the artworks and furnishings, the costume, and physiognomies.

Bergeret played a major role in introducing lithography into France, with prints after Poussin and Raphael: his lithograph Mercury (1804), after Raphael’s fresco in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, was one of the earliest examples of the technique. He also contributed greatly to Napoleonic propaganda by designing medals, extravagant pieces of Sèvres porcelain and, most important, the decoration of the Vendôme Column (1806-11; Paris, Place Vendôme) to satisfy Napoleon’s desire for a copy in Paris of Trajan’s Column in Rome. Bergeret was responsible for designing the bas-reliefs on the Vendôme Column, which record the campaigns of 1805 and 1806 (Austerlitz) in the way that those on Trajan’s Column record the Dacian Wars. It was destroyed in 1814, replaced in 1833 and again in 1863, before being demolished by the Communards in 1871. It was restored in 1875.

Aretino in the Studio of Tintoretto

The source for the picture’s subject is Carlo Ridolfi’s book, Le Maraviglie dell’arte (1648). Aretino had spoken badly of Tintoretto. When they met one day Tintoretto invited Aretino to his studio to have his portrait done. During the sitting the painter suddenly pulled out a dagger from his robe. The surprised Aretino believed he was seeking revenge, and cried out and asked what he wanted. Tintoretto replied coldly, “Don’t move. I am taking your measurements.” Suitably intimidated by the incident, Aretino never again spoke badly of Tintoretto and they ultimately became friends. Bergeret’s picture depicting Tintoretto brandishing a pistol, like those of his fellow artists Ingres and Alexander-Evariste Fragonard, differs from the account due apparently to a translator’s confusion over the Italian word for dagger, “pistolese.”

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Charles V Picking up Titian's Paintbrush

During his long visit in Augsburg in 1548, Titan had time to become acquainted with Emperor Charles V, leading to a deeper sympathy with him as a man as well as to a better understanding of his aspirations as a ruler. Contemporary observers were highly impressed by the intimacy that a mere painter should have enjoyed with the most powerful man on earth. Titian’s seventeenth-century biographer Carlo Ridolfi recounts an anecdote concerning their relationship, which clearly grew out of accurate reports in circulation at the time.

“It is told of Titian that while he was painting the portrait, he dropped a brush, which the emperor picked up, and bowing low, Titian declared: ‘Sire, one of your servants does not deserve such an honour.’ To this Charles replied: ‘Titian deserves to be served by Caesar.’”

This story, which was repeatedly cited by romantics in later centuries, was clearly modelled on Pliny’s account of the special favours accorded to the painter Apelles by Alexander the Great.

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