(Paris 1670–1751 Vienna)
Two allegorical scenes: 1. The assumption of Painting into the realm of Apollo, 2. Minerva rushing to the assistance of embattled arts,
oil on canvas, each 75 x 70 cm, framed (2)

Provenance:
Paul Delaroff collection, St. Petersburg;
Galerie Georges Petit auction, Paris, 23./24.4.1914;
French private collection.

Literature:
Die Galerie Kaiser Karls VI. in Wien, Solimenas Widmungsbild und Storffers Inventar (1720–1733), ed. S. Haag and G. Swoboda, Vienna 2010, p. 17.

Exhibited:
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 2010.

Jacob van Schuppen, who was court painter to the Duc de Lorraine in Lunéville from 1708, was summoned to Vienna in 1716. He was promoted to the post of Imperial court painter in 1723. That same year, he was appointed director of the Viennese Academy. This was also the year that he executed two ceiling paintings for the Imperial gallery of paintings in the Stallburg (the ‘Assumption of Painting into the Realm of Apollo’ is the only work by him, albeit in a truncated form, to survive. Today it is held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna). Schuppen wanted these allegories to be understood in connection with the paintings in the Imperial gallery as a reflection of artistic erudition. The protection of the arts by Minerva and the assumption into the realm of Apollo of painting was meant to highlight this. The allegorical programme: “Minerva assists the arts” - as the patron of the true arts and the correct doctrine, Minerva holds the hands of personifications of the arts. Mercury is restraining the demons of Envy, the genius of Fame snatches excellent work of the past from the clutches of Time. Jupiter dominates the entire scene. “The assumption of Painting into the realm of Apollo” – Painting, guided by Mercury and crowned by the Graces is led to Apollo with her entourage, whilst the demons of ignorance hurtle into the abyss. Opposite Painting sit the Muses on clouds, above which Fame floats. The iconographical programme as a whole represents the battle of the Viennese Academy (academic training) against the guilds. Jupiter, as the presiding god, is meant to symbolise the Emperor. Painting is meant to be admitted into the circle of the Muses under his patronage. Two smaller designs for the ceiling paintings in the Stallburg, formerly in the collection of Max Emden, were auctioned on 9 June 1931 at Graupe, Berlin, as works by Jacopo Amigoni. They were published in 1975 by Klara Garas as works by Schuppen (in: Bulletin du Musée Hongrois, pp. 21–41). Both pairs of designs differ in several small ways from the ceiling paintings as executed, which were copied in their turn as miniatures by Schuppen’s pupil, Ferdinand Storffer (Astorffer). One can presume that the designs shown here may be seen as the first ideas for the compositions, since they are worked in colours of a greater contrast than the other designs and the ceiling paintings. This is particularly evident in the falling demons in the “Assumption of Painting into the realm of Apollo”.