Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
C. R. Leslie, Esq., R. A., April 1834 (gift from artist)
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984 (gift of Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.)
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Samuel F. B. Morse
(American, 1791–1872)
Francis I, Study for "Gallery of the Louvre"
between 1831 and 1832
Oil on panel
Image: 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Frame: 15 15/16 x 13 15/16 x 1 7/8 in. (40.5 x 35.4 x 4.8 cm)
Frame: 15 15/16 x 13 15/16 x 1 7/8 in. (40.5 x 35.4 x 4.8 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Gift of Berry-Hill Galleries in honor of Daniel J. Terra
Object numberC1984.5
SignedReverse of panel in brush script: To C.R. Leslie, Esq., RA/from his old friend/Sam. F.B. Morse, P.N.A/Copy of Titian's Francis 1st/New York/April 1834
InterpretationSamuel F. B. Morse's Francis I, Study for "The Gallery of the Louvre" is a copy of the portrait of French king Francis I (1494–1547) by Venetian painter Titian (Tiziano Vecellio, circa 1485). Morse made his copy from the original in the Louvre museum in Paris in preparation for the most ambitious painting of his career, Gallery of the Louvre (TF 1992.51), a grand-scale rendering of the Louvre's Salon Carré hung with Morse's selection of some forty of the museum's masterpieces, mostly works of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Morse probably made copies of other important works represented in Gallery of the Louvre, but his version of the Francis I portrait is the only one known to exist.
Morse was praised for having faithfully rendered the style of each of the twenty-four painters represented in Gallery of the Louvre. For Francis I, Study for "The Gallery of the Louvre" he closely followed Titian's painting, but in scaling the original's 43-by-35-inch dimensions to his 8-by-10-inch panel he simplified detail and heightened color contrasts to allow for the impression of seeing Francis I at a distance, across the generous space of the gallery. In his imagined display of Louvre masterworks in Gallery of the Louvre, Morse included four paintings by Titian, more than the number for any other artist except Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641), also represented by four works. Morse almost certainly inherited his admiration for the Renaissance Venetian master from his teacher Washington Allston.
Titian’s Francis I was not the only portrait Morse portrayed in his visual catalogue of Louvre masterpieces, but it may have had particular significance. Morse positioned it near the very center of the scene, perhaps to honor the Renaissance monarch who began construction of the present-day Louvre Palace buildings and amassed for the French royal art collection such treasures as the Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, known as the Mona Lisa (1503–6), by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), which also appears in The Gallery of the Louvre. In Morse’s masterwork he almost certainly depicted himself in the central figure of the man bending over the back of a female art student’s chair to critique her work. Positioned almost directly below Francis I, the teacher is seen in left-facing profile, echoing Titian’s portrait and recalling the artist’s earlier Self-Portrait of 1813 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Morse may have felt a parallel between Francis’s role as the chief patron of Renaissance culture in France and his own aspirations to bring the legacy of great art to America by the means suggested in his grand Gallery of the Louvre: instruction, intimate knowledge of the masterworks of the past, and a vision of their role in the formation of American culture.
Morse was praised for having faithfully rendered the style of each of the twenty-four painters represented in Gallery of the Louvre. For Francis I, Study for "The Gallery of the Louvre" he closely followed Titian's painting, but in scaling the original's 43-by-35-inch dimensions to his 8-by-10-inch panel he simplified detail and heightened color contrasts to allow for the impression of seeing Francis I at a distance, across the generous space of the gallery. In his imagined display of Louvre masterworks in Gallery of the Louvre, Morse included four paintings by Titian, more than the number for any other artist except Flemish painter Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641), also represented by four works. Morse almost certainly inherited his admiration for the Renaissance Venetian master from his teacher Washington Allston.
Titian’s Francis I was not the only portrait Morse portrayed in his visual catalogue of Louvre masterpieces, but it may have had particular significance. Morse positioned it near the very center of the scene, perhaps to honor the Renaissance monarch who began construction of the present-day Louvre Palace buildings and amassed for the French royal art collection such treasures as the Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, known as the Mona Lisa (1503–6), by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), which also appears in The Gallery of the Louvre. In Morse’s masterwork he almost certainly depicted himself in the central figure of the man bending over the back of a female art student’s chair to critique her work. Positioned almost directly below Francis I, the teacher is seen in left-facing profile, echoing Titian’s portrait and recalling the artist’s earlier Self-Portrait of 1813 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). Morse may have felt a parallel between Francis’s role as the chief patron of Renaissance culture in France and his own aspirations to bring the legacy of great art to America by the means suggested in his grand Gallery of the Louvre: instruction, intimate knowledge of the masterworks of the past, and a vision of their role in the formation of American culture.
C. R. Leslie, Esq., R. A., April 1834 (gift from artist)
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984 (gift of Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.)
Exhibition History
Face to Face: Portraits from the Collections of Terra Museum of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 8, 1994–April 2, 1995.
Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Gallery of the Louvre, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 8, 2003–October 31, 2004.
Extended Loan on View, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, March 1–June 12, 2011.
Samuel F. B. Morse’s "Gallery of the Louvre" and the Art of Invention , Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, January 24, 2015–May 4, 2015; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, May 23, 2015–August 23, 2015; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 16–January 10, 2016; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, January 23–April 18, 2016; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, June 18–September 18, 2016; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, October 8, 2016–January 8, 2017; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, February 17–Sunday, June 4, 2017; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, June 17, 2017– October 15, 2017. [exh. cat.]
Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 11–October 31, 1997.
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]
A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003.
Gallery of the Louvre, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 8, 2003–October 31, 2004.
Extended Loan on View, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, March 1–June 12, 2011.
Samuel F. B. Morse’s "Gallery of the Louvre" and the Art of Invention , Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, January 24, 2015–May 4, 2015; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, May 23, 2015–August 23, 2015; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 16–January 10, 2016; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, January 23–April 18, 2016; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, June 18–September 18, 2016; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, October 8, 2016–January 8, 2017; Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, February 17–Sunday, June 4, 2017; New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, June 17, 2017– October 15, 2017. [exh. cat.]
Kloss, William. Samuel F.B. Morse. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., Publishers in association with the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1988. Text p. 130, ill. p. 131 (color).
Reymond, Nathalie. Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 70; ill. p. 67 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist).
Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 50.
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 50.
Brownlee, Peter John. A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's "Gallery of the Louvre." (exh. brochure, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2011. Text, p. 3; ill. fig. 4 (color).
Brownlee, Peter John. Samuel F. B. Morse’s Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention. (exh. cat., The Huntington Library, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Peabody Essex Museum, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, New Britain Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2014. Text p. 24, 103; ill. p. 24 (color).
Reymond, Nathalie. Un regard américain sur Paris (An American Glance at Paris). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Text p. 70; ill. p. 67 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist).
Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 50.
Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 50.
Brownlee, Peter John. A New Look: Samuel F. B. Morse's "Gallery of the Louvre." (exh. brochure, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2011. Text, p. 3; ill. fig. 4 (color).
Brownlee, Peter John. Samuel F. B. Morse’s Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention. (exh. cat., The Huntington Library, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Seattle Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Peabody Essex Museum, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, New Britain Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2014. Text p. 24, 103; ill. p. 24 (color).