León Brunel Roque

LEON BRUNEL ROQUE (Paris, 1822-19th century).
"Biblical scene", 1861.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 28.5 x 36.5 cm; 49 x 53 cm (frame).
The scene depicted is taken from the Old Testament; according to Genesis, although God promised Abraham to be the father of nations, his wife Sarah was barren. To help her husband fulfill his destiny, she offered him her slave Hagar as a concubine. Hagar soon became pregnant, and began to despise her mistress. Sarah complained bitterly to her husband, and he told her to do with the maid as she pleased. Sarah's harsh treatment of Hagar forced her to flee with her son Ishmael, but an angel urged her to return to her mistress. By the time she returned, however, Sarah conceived Isaac, and Hagar and her son Ishmael were driven from Abraham's house. Mother and son then wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, where they ran out of water. As the child cried, an angel appeared again, telling them that they had been heard by God; he showed them a fountain of water and gave the boy to drink, who would be protected by the Lord from then on.
During the 19th century, Brunel-Roque played a prominent role in the artistic and educational field in France. A professor of drawing at the prestigious Sainte-Barbe college, he was also linked to the National Manufactory of Sèvres, where he worked as a figure painter and professor of economic painting at the Free Imperial School for the artistic training of young people.
From 1844, he actively participated in the official Salons, presenting a considerable number of portraits, religious compositions and genre scenes, reflecting his technical mastery and academic sensibility. Among his most important works is the painting of the main altar of the chapel of Saint Cecilia in the church of Saint-Eustache, in Paris, as well as a crucified Christ destined for one of the rooms of the Palace of Justice in the French capital.
In 1856, Napoleon III offered Prince Albert of England a sumptuous vase of biscuit porcelain, produced by the Manufacture de Sèvres, on whose surface Brunel-Roque had painted allegories representing the various powers of the world presenting the fruits of their industry at the Universal Exhibition in London in 1855. This work, loaded with symbolism and executed with refined virtuosity, illustrates the artist's relevance at the intersection of art, industry and cultural diplomacy of the Second Empire.