Lot 2148 Dα

The Belgian painter Joseph Barthélémy Vieillevoye worked in Antwerp until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, after which he moved to Liège. Vieillevoye painted this imposing depiction of Saint Paul for the Jesuit convent of Liège in 1850. The work's intense atmosphere is achieved through the artist's technical mastery and through the fine psychological rendering of the figure's expression. The refined use of light and the almost minaturesque rendering of surface textures allow the figure of the Apostle to stand out against the shadowy background. Vieillevoye depicts a very human Saint Paul, with a wrinkled face and sinewy hands, entirely in keeping with the realist tradition of the mid-19th century. The classical style cloak and sword mark him out as a saint, whereby the influence of Vieillevoye's esteemed Flemish role models Rubens and van Dyck is clearly evident. The tension between the naturalistic and life-like aspects of the depiction and the sense of dignified detachment is what draws the viewer in.<BR> While his technical mastery can be attributed to Vieillevoye's thorough academic training under Mathieu-Ignace van Brée at the Antwerp Academy as of 1816, he derived his ability to render human expression precisely and atmospherically from his experience as a portrait painter for the upper and educated middle classes in Antwerp and Liège.