Lot 27: Attributed to François Bunel the Younger Blois circa 1552 - 1595 / 1599 Paris , Allegory of the Struggle between Sacred and Profane Love oil on panel

oil on panel

measurements 10 3/8 by 14 in. alternate measurements 26.3 by 35.6 cm.

Sold at Christie's before 1906 and again at Christie's at some point before June 19, 1987.

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF KENNETH RAININ
In the present work the artist uses unusual iconography to depict the struggle between sacred and profane love. St. Francis of Assisi, who was revered for his chastity, is at left. With his foot steadied on a globe, he has shackled a young gentleman with an iron chain and pulls at him. The gentleman in turn uses his left hand to tip his hat to St. Francis, while from his right side he is connected to a young woman by a string tied to the hilt of his sword. In her left hand the woman holds the string and in her right hand holds two little flowers, which have traditionally symbolized the transience of human life. Through the use of this iconography, the artist seems to suggest that the bonds of sacred love and faith, as represented by the sturdy chain and globe, are stronger than profane love represented by the flimsy string and lovely, but short-lived, flowers.

We are grateful to Jan de Maere, who, based upon a color transparency, suggested an attribution to François Bunel the Younger. One of Bunel's most important contributions to the history of art is a drawing he made of Henri de Navarre, the future Henri IV. That drawing, conserved in the Cabinet des Dessins du Louvre, is considered by scholars to be one of the most accurate renditions of the French king.