(Haina 1722–1789 Kassel)
Portrait of Louis Gaucher, Duc de Chatillon (1737–1762), as Colonel of the Regiment of Cuirassiers ‘Cavalerie du Roi’, his right hand pointing at a map of the Battle of Kassel, with Weißenstein Palace and the Hercules Monument in the background,
indistinctly signed and dated lower left: JHTi...be fecit...62,
oil on canvas, 223 x 129 cm, framed 

Provenance:
Adrienne Emilie Félicité, Duchesse de Châtillon, née de La Vallière;
sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 26 June 1928;
Aristocratic family collection, Brittany

Literature:
A. Depreaux, Louis Gaucher, Duc de Châtillon (1737–1762), in: Carnet de la Sabretache, no. 354, 11, 1931, pp. 254–257, ill.

We are grateful to Anna-Charlotte Flohr, author of the catalogue raisonné of the portraits by Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder, for confirming the present painting to be an autograph work by Tischbein on the basis of its examination in the original. An extensive certificate is available.

This impressive portrait of a dashing young cavalry commander is one of the most important rediscovered works by Tischbein that has ever appeared on the art market. . Due to its dimensions, artistic ambition, and historical significance, it seems truly unique. In 1760, during the Seven Years’ War, both French troops commanded by Marshal Duc de Broglie and Saxon troops led by Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony occupied Kassel, the capital of the landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, in their fight against the alliance of Prussia and England. Frederick II, the young landgrave, managed to leave the town in time. It was only in 1762 that the Duke of Brunswick succeeded in driving the occupying forces away. Among those who had remained in Kassel in 1760 was Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder, court painter to the landgrave and director of the art academy. He obviously came to an agreement with the foreign officers in a very short time seeming that he quickly received portrait commissions from them. When the French finally retreated, those who had sat for Tischbein took their portraits with them to their native country. Until now two portraits by the artist are known to have been brought to France: that of General de Chevert from 1762 (Hôtel de Ville, Verdun) and that of Marshal de Broglie, which is now lost. The portrait of the Duc de Châtillon is thus a prominent addition to this small group of known works. It is closely related to that of Chevert, so that both works, as is also suggested by their almost identical dimensions, might have been commissioned by the two generals and executed by Tischbein at the same time. The present portrait can also be compared to that of the Hessian colonel Karl Emil von Donop (Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster), which, however, was only executed in 1765, as well as that of the Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his family in the princely residence at Arolsen.

The uniform largely complies with the royal ordinances passed on 1 April 1750. Although they were revised in 1761, the new regulations were suspended until the war was over. The duke wears the yellowish beige leather breeches typical of the heavy cavalry and the obligatory white kneepads that were meant to protect the light-coloured leather from getting stained by the black boots. Underneath his cuirass, which covers both his back and chest, he wears a silver trimmed leather pourpoint, its sleeves decorated with red velvet cuffs – a garment exclusively prescribed for officers. That he had not put on the red-lined blue coat that was usually worn over the cuirass suggests that an elegant appearance was of great importance to the young commander. The officer’s backsword, featuring a silver portepée, also corresponds with the 1750 dress code for heavy cavalry. In his article in the French military magazine Carnet de la Sabretache, Albert Depreaux drew false conclusions from the sitter’s uniform. He tried to explain the missing coat by assuming that the sitter was probably not Châtillon after all, but an officer of the ‘Cuirassiers du Roi’ dressed in line with the ordinances of 1767. According to latest research findings in the field of military history, however, this assumption is clearly refuted by the painting’s date of execution in 1762, historical facts (by 1767 all of the French soldiers had left Kassel), and the uniform as such. The sitter must therefore be identified as the young Duc de Châtillon. His right hand points at a map of Kassel, with its fortifications und the surrounding villages. If he points to the specific site of a crucial battle in which he had taken part is unknown. The site he indicates seems to correspond with/approximately identical to/ the position of his regiment near former Weißenstein Palace and Hercules Monument, which is recognisable in the background. The French military camp near Weißenstein Palace is discernible on the right, and there can be no doubt that the soldiers wearing tall bearskin caps are French grenadiers. Next to the map lies the silver trimmed black tricorne of the French cavalry. The white cockade is a sign that the regiment belonged to the royal household (although sometimes the cockade was also black – regulations were not precise in this respect).

Louis Gaucher, second Duc de Châtillon, was a member of one of the most important and oldest noble families in France. He was a hereditary Peer of France and, as the successor of his father-in-law, the Duc de La Vallière, holder of the hereditary title of ‘Grand Fauconnier’ (Grand Falconer). The duke, who in 1760 was only twenty-three years old, had bravely fought in the Battle of Korbach and was one of the most high-ranking French officers stationed in Kassel. Soon after his return to Paris, the duke died of varicella in 1762. His daughters were married to the Dukes of La Trémoille and Uzès respectively, so that the House of Châtillon died out.