ÉCOLE ITALIENNE DU XIXe SIÈCLE, D'APRÈS LÉONARD DE VINCI
La Joconde
huile sur toile
78 x 52 cm (30³⁄₄ x 20¹⁄₂ in.)

William de Noé (1806-?), château de l'Isle-de-Noé (Gers), vers 1845-1846 (selon M. R. Pagel, 1912, voir infra) ;
Puis par descendance dans la famille ;
Acquis auprès du marquis de Noé par le père de l'actuel propriétaire, en 1983.

M. R. Pagel, 'La Joconde du château de l'Isle-de-Noé', Bulletin de la Société Archéologique du Gers, Auch, 1912, XIIIe année, 2e trimestre, pp. 182-183, reproduit en noir et blanc.
L. Serbat, 'Chronique - La Joconde de l'Isle de Noé', Bulletin Monumental, Paris-Caen, 1914, p. 157.

ITALIAN SCHOOL 19th CENTURY, AFTER LEONARDO DA VINCI, MONA LISA, OIL ON CANVAS

The Isle-de-Noé Mona Lisa

This painting was first mentioned in print in a 1912 article by René Pagel (1875-1934), whose account of the work’s incredible rediscovery appeared in the pages of the Bulletin de la Société Archéologique de Gers (see supra). This version of the Mona Lisa was in the collection of the de Noé family until 1986, the year the work was acquired by its current owner. The painting had been rediscovered in 1845-1846 by William de Noé (born 1806), at the time the squadron leader of the first hussar regiment, in a property in Nancy. The story of the painting, published in 1942, described how the work, hitherto forgotten and covered in dust, was used to block the window of the property’s attic. It was then housed in the family’s home close to Toulouse: the chateau de l'Isle-de-Noé.

Indisputably one of the most recognizable images in the world, Leonardo's Mona Lisa entered into the royal collection of Francois I of France (1494-1547) shortly after 1517. The number of copies after this mysterious portrait executed from the 17th century onwards attest to its great influence and allure. Indeed, the act of copying the Mona Lisa, a symbol of the Renaissance it all its splendour, became a sort of mandatory rite of passage for artists throughout the ages. The young woman’s enigmatic smile, her sensuality, the numerous theories surrounding her biography, as well as the work’s royal connection, have fascinated generations of painters. The Louvre’s 1952 exhibition Hommage à Léonard de Vinci listed more than fifty copies of the delicate model. Of a particularly graceful elegance, the Isle-de-Noé Mona Lisa is certainly one of the most beautiful 19th century copies of the famous composition.

A note on the history of the de-Noé family:

The chateau de l'Isle-of-Noé, situated on the banks of the river Baïse, in the Gers close to Toulouse, was completed under the direction of the architect Pierre-Jean-François Racine de Rocheville (c.1719-1774) at the behest of the Marquess Jacques Roger de Noé (1716-1800). His cousin, Louis-Pantaléon de Noé (1728-1816), is a key figure in the history of the abolition of slavery. The owner of a vast plantation in Saint-Domingue, he decided in 1776, well before it became a legale requirement in France, to free François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), the future leader of the Haitian Revolution that led to the country's independance in 1804. The de Noé family continued to maintain very good relations with Toussaint Louverture.