Sibylle

Sibylle

Sibylle

Artist:Camille Corot (French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris)
Date:ca. 1870
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:32 1/4 x 25 1/2 in. (81.9 x 64.8 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929

This handsome work ranks as one of Corot's most accomplished efforts at approximating Raphael’s High Renaissance style. Its pose closely follows the portrait of Bindo Altoviti (National Gallery of Art, Washington), believed, in Corot’s day, to be Raphael’s self-portrait, but Corot arrived at this composition incrementally. X-radiographs reveal an earlier state in which the model plays the cello: the left hand held the neck of the instrument and the right hand, slightly raised, held the bow. Corot made several adjustments to these accessories before painting them out altogether, dropping the model’s right hand to her lap and inserting a rose or pink in her left hand.

Provenance

Alfred Robaut, Paris (until 1899; sold on February 21 for Fr 6,000 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1899; stock no. 5026, as "Italienne"; sold on December 8, 1899 or January 25, 1900 to Durand-Ruel, New York]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1899/1900–1903; stock no. 2286; sold on February 7, 1903, for $6,000 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1903–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 64–65; 2nd ed., 1958, p. 15, no. 77)

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