Intoning Capuchins François Marius Granet

Born in Provence, François Marius Granet was a student of Jacques-Louis David in Paris before settling in Rome in 1802, where he lived for over two decades, painting evocative interiors and sun-drenched landscapes. His works display both the precise, strict compositional principles of classicism and the evocative approach to nature and mystical sensitivity of Romanticism.

The interior of the Chiesa dell’Immacolata Concezione on the Piazza Barberini in Rome, belonging to the monastery of the Capuchin order, was one of Granet’s most popular subjects. This hugely successful painting was executed in more than a dozen variations: the original version was inspired by Napoleon’s occupation of Rome between 1808 and 1814, when the Mass and church services were banned. Granet found his favourite church empty, and the profoundly religious painter turned to his canvas to protest the restrictions. In the Budapest version, too, he accurately renders the perspective of the building and the details of the interior ornamentation, while sensitively depicting the effects of light and shadow that intensify the enigmatic, intimate atmosphere of the space and the deep piety of the praying monks.

Anna Zsófia Kovács