11 Works, Today, March 11th. is artist Émile Signol's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #069

 Emile Signol (French, 1804-1892)

Lady in White

Oil on canvas

27"h x 22.75"w

Private collection

Émile Signol (March 11, 1804 – October 4, 1892) was a French artist who painted history paintings, portraits, and genre works. Although he lived during the Romantic period, he espoused an austere neoclassicism and was hostile to Romanticism.

SIGNOL Emile, Paris, 1804 - Montmorency, 1892

Méléagre taking up arms again at the request of his wife

Oil on canvas

H. 19.5 cm. ; L. 25 cm.

Museum of Fine Arts, Tours

 Emile Signol, 

Méléagre taking up arms again at the request of his wife, c. 1830

Paris, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts

In Greek mythology, Meleager was a hero venerated in his temenos at Calydon in Aetolia. He was already famed as the host of the Calydonian boar hunt in the epic tradition that was reworked by Homer. Meleager is also mentioned as one of the Argonauts. More on Méléagre

Emile Signol

Damon and Pythias by Dionysius of Syracuse

Oil on paper laid down on canvas

32,5 x 40,5 cm 

Private collection

The story of Damon s a legend in Greek historic writings illustrating the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. Pythias is accused of and charged with plotting against the tyrannical Dionysius I of Syracuse. Pythias requests of Dionysius to be allowed to settle his affairs on the condition that his friend, Damon, be held hostage and, should he, Pythias, not return, be executed in his stead. When Pythias returns, Dionysius, amazed by the love and trust in their friendship, frees them both. More on Damon and Pythias 

Emile Signol  (1804–1892)

Awakening of the just, awakening of the wicked, c. 1835

Oil on canvas

Height: 1,920.0 cm; Width: 2,570.0 cm

Angers Fine Arts Museum, Angers , Maine-et-Loire , France

Signol was born in Paris. He made his Salon debut in 1824 with a painting of Joseph Recounting His Dream to His Brothers. He painted a portrait of Hector Berlioz at the Académie de France à Rome, Villa Medici, during the composer's stay upon his winning the Grand Prix de Rome in 1830. Signol had won the grand prize for the same competition's painting category with Titulus Crucis.

Emile Signol (Paris, 1804 - Montmorency, 1892)

Lammermoor's bride, c. 1850

Oil on canvas

Musée des Beaux-Arts

This painting evokes the tragic outcome of Walter Scott's novel, The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), when the heroine Lucy forced into marriage and went mad with despair. stabs her husband on their wedding night. By its dark and fantastic character, this romantic drama fascinated and inspired Signol like many of his contemporaries (Scheffer, Fragonard, Cibot, Renouard, Bazin or Delacroix).

A selection of works bequeathed to the museum at the beginning of the 20th century by the family of Emile Signol will allow the public to discover lesser-known paintings and drawings by this painter of portraits and history. More on this painting

In 1842 he painted The Death of Saphira for the Church of the Madeleine, and was subsequently commissioned to decorate the churches of Saint Roch, Saint Sévérin, Saint Eustace, and Saint Augustin. Four of his paintings are housed at the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris.

He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1841, and an Officer in 1865.

Émile Signol

Capture of Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, c. 1847

I have no further description, at this time

Jerusalem was taken on Good Friday, the anniversary of Christ's death. The Crusaders had attempted a first assault the day before and had been repulsed; that of the next day is only given after a night of tears, confession and prayers. No sooner has the city been conquered than the Christians of Jerusalem are seen rushing to meet the conquerors; they share with them the food that they have been able to steal in search of the Muslims. All together thank the God who made the arms of the soldiers of the cross triumph. Peter the Hermit who, five years before, promised to arm the West for the deliverance of the faithful of Jerusalem can then enjoy the spectacle of their gratitude and their joy. More on this painting

Emile Signol

Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, July 15, 1099, c. 1847

Godfrey de Bouillon, elected king of Jerusalem on July 23, 1099

Oil on canvas

324 x 556 cm

National museum of the châteaux of Versailles and Trianon.

Ten days after the capture of Jerusalem, the council of princes bestows the crown on Godefroy de Bouillon as the most worthy. Out of pious humility, Godefroy de Bouillon refuses the diadem and the marks of royalty: " he does not want, say the Assises of Jerusalem, to be sacred and corosne king of Jerusalem, because he does not wish to wear corosne of gold there. where the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, the son of God, wears the corosne of spines on the day of his Passioni. " More on this painting

Emile Signol  (1804–1892)

Louis IX, dit Saint Louis, King of France (1215-1270), c. 1844

Oil on canvas

Height: 298 cm (117.3 in); Width: 232 cm (91.3 in)

Palace of Versailles 

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, is the only king of France to be canonized in the Catholic Church. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII; his mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom as regent .

During the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically.

Honoring a vow he had made while praying for recovery during a serious illness, Louis IX led the Seventh and Eighth crusades against the Ayyubids, Bahriyya Mamluks and Hafsid Kingdom. He was captured in the first and ransomed, and he died from dysentery during the latter. More on Louis IX

Émile Signol  (1804–1892) 

Tancred of Hauteville, siege of Jerusalem, c. 19th century

French Museum Collection RMN

Tancred of Hauteville (c. 980 – 1041) was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. He was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Tancred is also known by the achievements of his twelve sons. More on Tancred of Hauteville

Émile Signol (1804–1892)

St. Bernard preaches to the Second Crusade in the presence of King Louis VII, Queen Eleonora and Abbot Suger in Vezelay, March 31, 1146, c. 1840

Oil on canvas

Galeries historiques de Versailles, Paris

At the Saint-Roch church , a very symbolic painting by Claude Vignon represents "Godefroy de Bouillon victorious "and relates this event.

Elected in 1860, he held a first seat position at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1862, Pierre-Auguste Renoir studied under Signol and Charles Gleyre across from the École du Louvre at the École des Beaux-Arts. Signol and Gleyre taught Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ in 1861.

Signol died in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise in 1892. More on Émile Signol

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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