Baudoin YVART (1611 – 1690) Still Life with rosary

Baudoin/Baudrin YVART (Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1611 – Paris, 1690)

Still Life with Rosary

Oil on canvas, 83 x 65.5 cm

This painting depicts a still life composed of objects arranged on a marble surface. In the foreground, a sumptuous red brocade cloth, richly decorated with embroidered plant motifs, unfurls in large folds, adding depth and brilliance to the composition. A red cord, delicately placed on the fabric, winds its way to the edge of the support.

On the left, a large piece of silverware with two side handles and a relief decoration is shown open, while its lid is placed in the background. On the right, several bound volumes are stacked, topped by a mitre. One of the books is open, revealing pages printed in capital letters, accompanied by an engraved illustration, rendered with great precision.

In the background, partially shrouded in shadow, are other pieces of silverware, including a ewer and a cylindrical container, arranged in an overlapping pattern that adds to the spatial depth of the scene.

The whole scene is illuminated by light from the side, which plays on the reflections on the metal surfaces, highlights the richness of the textile textures and illuminates the pages of the books, while the background remains deliberately dark and sober. In the lower part, the marble base is decorated with a carved bas-relief depicting a frieze of draped figures, inspired by antiquity, which anchors the composition in a classical tradition.

Baudoin Yvart

Baudoin Yvart was a French artist active in the second half of the 17th century. Accepted into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1663, he participated in major decorative projects linked to the court. He first worked at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, then at the Manufacture de Maincy between 1658 and 1661, before joining the Manufacture Royale des Gobelins in at least 1662. In this capacity, he collaborated with numerous artists on prestigious commissions for the decoration of Louis XIV's royal residences. Closely associated with Charles Le Brun, he was one of his most constant and active collaborators. Many still-life painters gravitated towards Le Brun in order to meet the needs of the Royal Manufactory under his direction.

As part of the tapestry cartoons commissioned from Charles Le Brun, Baudoin Yvart was mainly responsible for painting the figures, footstools and curtains. In particular, he contributed to one of the most iconic projects of this period, the creation of the Tentures des Maisons Royales, also known as the Tentures des Mois. Yvart was one of Le Brun's most valued collaborators, who placed his constant trust in him. In the context of the embellishment of the royal residences, he acquired a solid reputation in the field of trompe-l'oeil, particularly in the imitation of bas-reliefs. He also distinguished himself by his skill in the representation of marble and gold and silver work. However, due to the collective and hierarchical nature of the workshops run by Le Brun, it remains difficult to identify individual contributions with any certainty. Only a few documents preserved by the Manufacture des Gobelins now allow us to pinpoint Baudoin Yvart's involvement in these commissions.