Jean Marie Melchior Doze
Study of a saint, circa 1875-79, Preparatory drawing
circa 1875

About the Item

Melchior DOZE (1827-1913) Study of a saint, ca. 1875-79 Preparatory drawing for the decoration of the church of Saint-Félix de Saint-Gervasy (Gard), chapel of the Cross (south side), completed in 1879 Graphite and white chalk highlights on blue paper Bears the stamp of the Marie-Madeleine Aubrun collection (1924-1998) at the bottom right (L.3508) Bears the stamp of the studio on the reverse (L.4552) 31,5 x 21,5 cm Provenance: sale of the artist's studio collection, Paris, Me Lebat, March 4, 1983; former collection of Marie-Madeleine Aubrun (1924-1998), art historian, her sale in Paris, Me Rieunier & Me Bailly, February 8 and 9, 1999. Born in Uzès in 1827, Melchior Doze grew up in Nîmes where he attended a drawing school from the age of fifteen. He then perfected his skills with Joseph Felon (1818-1897) and Hippolyte Flandrin (1809-1864) who was then working on the decor of the church of Saint-Paul (Nîmes). He then followed the lessons of the latter, whom he met again in his Parisian studio in 1862. He exhibited at the Salon between 1861 and 1879 and won several awards. He also taught at the drawing school of his city before being appointed director in 1875 following his former teacher: Numa Boucoiran (1805-1875). The artist devoted himself almost exclusively to the painting of religious subjects and created the decorations for several churches in the Gard department, including the church of Saint-Charles and the cathedral of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor in Nîmes. In 1858, Father Louis-Simon Lambert, newly appointed parish priest of Saint-Gervasy (Gard), entrusted him with the realization of the painted decorations of the church. The latter was at the origin of a vast project of enlargement and embellishment of the church built in the 12th century. Melchior Doze skilfully translated the ambitious decorative program conceived with the priest. His mural compositions depict all the saints honored by the church. The simplicity of the order seems to be inherited from the Byzantine tradition. The symmetry, which refers to the hieratic style of the 13th century, is subdued with finesse by the introduction of varied poses and differences in the types and colors of the draperies of the characters, all in the service of religious sentiment. The artist necessarily borrows from Flandrin, notably the great decoration of the church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Paris. The study of a holy woman on blue paper that we are presenting here is preparatory to the decoration of the chapel of the Cross that is located on the south side of the said church, signed and dated "1879". Two angels carry the Cross in the heavens above two groups of three figures. Our figure, in the foreground of the left group, is believed to be Mary Salome, surrounded by Mary Jacoba and Joseph of Arimathea. Related drawings, also preparatory to the decoration of this same chapel, are kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nîmes and in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Creator:

Jean Marie Melchior Doze

Creation Year:

circa 1875

Dimensions:

Height: 12.41 in (31.5 cm)Width: 6.7 in (17 cm)

More Editions & Sizes:

Original workPrice: $601

Medium:

Chalk,Paper,Graphite

Movement & Style:

Academic