Pamono Workshop of Jacques Blanchard, Thetis Hephaestus, 1630, Oil on Panel, Framed> Old Masters|Classical

Thetis in the Forge of Hephaestus (Hephaestus gives Thetis the weapons he forged for Achilles)

Oil on canvas mounted on panel (80 x 65 cm – framed 90 x 76 cm)

Review by Arabella Cifani

This interesting painting depicts a famous mythological episode narrated by Homer in the Iliad (Book XVIII) and portrays Thetis, the most beautiful of the Nereids and mother of the hero Achilles, together with Hephaestus, god of fire and blacksmith of the gods, who is shown here with a hammer in his hand intent on forging weapons for the woman’s son, which will become a symbol of the hero’s great power.

This is a recurring episode in art and literature: after the death of Patroclus, who was wearing Achilles’ armor, his mother, Thetis, goes to the forge of Hephaestus (also known as Vulcan), located in the heart of Mount Etna, to ask him for a new divine armor and all the weapons necessary for her future revenge against Hector, guilty of accusing her friend.

As Dr. Arabella Cifani indicates in her study of the painting, it is a work by the French painter Jacques Blanchard (Paris, 1600 – Paris, 1638), in this case assisted by his workshop.

Blanchard was one of the most important painters active in Paris in the first half of the 17th century, and as we can see from the painting presented here, his works demonstrate remarkable technical skill and a predilection for depth and realism, making him a highly influential artist in French painting.

His style is influenced by the Baroque style of Rubens, though it also embraces a more classicist approach, particularly akin to Poussin’s models, with compositions defined by grace, proportion, and balance.

His sojourn in Italy, between Rome and Venice, was also crucial to his painting, where he found inspiration in the work of Venetian painters, particularly Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto.

Before returning permanently to France, he served the Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, in Turin, for whom he painted numerous works with mythological subjects, including “The Loves of Venus and Adonis,” works that later moved to Paris.

Despite a minimal production of religious devotional works, Blanchard is still celebrated as a painter of mythological and allegorical subjects, which made him famous and sought-after even during his lifetime, supported in his work by a distinguished workshop.

Of the painting under study here, the original of which is lost, there exists a splendid engraving by Pierre Daret de Cazeneuve, dated between 1663 and 1678, printed in the workshop of Pierre II Mariette (1634-1716), a print dealer and major French publisher active in Paris (https://www.boijmans.nl/en/collection/artworks/151540/thetis-at-the-forge-of-vulcan ).

A key characteristic of his works is his penchant for infusing his subjects with an aura of sensuality, echoing masterpieces by Titian and Veronese, where Thetis’s pose seems to echo ancient Greek statues, portrayed wearing a blue robe that leaves her breasts exposed. This earned him the nickname “French Titian” among his contemporaries and placed him at a crucial position in the development of French art, between the eroticism of the court art of Fontainebleau in the 16th century and that of Boucher in the 18th century.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is sold complete with a gilded wooden frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic .