ATTRIBUTED TO NICOLAS-DIDIER BOGUET (1755-1839)

A VIEW OVER LAKE NEMI FROM THE NORTH
Oil on canvas
81 x 112 cm
 
PROVENANCE
Private collection, New York
 
 
 
 
 
We are grateful to Dr Vincent Chenal for his generous assistance in cataloguing this (now sold) painting. Dr Chenal has suggested that the work should be 'Attributed to' Boguet on stylistic grounds. 
 
 
Boguet treated the present subject at least six times (1) (2): one of these versions, A View of Lake Nemi, near Rome, at Sunset is listed as the first work to be exhibited by Boguet in the Salon of 1800; however, there are unfortunately no dimensions or other information given in the exhibition catalogue, so it is difficult to ascertain if the present painting is that which was exhibited on that occasion. Another of Boguet's treatments of the Lake, which shows the Castel Gandolfo to the left of the composition, can be seen above: Lake Nemi, Finnish National Art Gallery, Helsinki (acc. no. A I 304).
 
Boguet first studied in Paris under the sponsorship of the Prince de Condé. At the age of 23 he was agréé at the Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculture and, in 1783, he left Paris to study in Rome. He intended to stay for just six months but Italy seduced him, and he remained there for several decades, producing paintings that were sent to the Paris Salons and won him much acclaim in his home-country (3). Although mainly known as a painter of landscapes, Boguet was commissioned by Napoleon to paint scenes from the Emperor's Italian campaign, such as La Bataille de Rivoli and Le Passage du Pô, à Plaisance. For his services to the arts, Boguet was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, and was also elected as a member of the Academy of St. Luke in Rome, the Royal Academy of Tuscany, and the Association for the Establishment of French in Rome.