A first highlight of the sale on November 26th is this painting (estimate €150,000 - 200,000) by Girolamo da Carpi (Ferrara, 1501 - 1556), the first court painter to Duke Hercules II d'Este (1508-1559).

He synthesized the legacy of the masters of the High Renaissance, whom he observed on his travels and who, like him, were both history painters and portraitists. The painter retained the monumentality and natural relationship with the model that had become established since Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Our work presents an idealization inspired by the Florentines, such as Francesco Salviati and Jacopino del Conte, with its elegance and sophistication.

Our painting of The Miracles of blessed Ignatius of Loyola (estimate €500,000 - 800,000) by Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen, 1577 - Antwerp, 1640) is a preparatory study for the monumental work that still hangs on the walls of the church of the Gesù in Genoa.

This important commission took place when the canonisation of Ignatius of Loyola was imminent and during the growing development of the Jesuit order in Antwerp and Italy. This modello, executed on canvas to make it easier to transport, is one of the most significant rediscoveries of the Rubenian corpus from the Genoese period.

Considered by Hugo to be ‘a poet of marble’, David d'Angers (Angers, 1788 - Paris, 1856) immortalized him, modelling a bust whose expressiveness reveals the poet's inner strength. With his carelessly knotted tie and vague gaze, the writer was seen as the embodiment of Romantic genius. Hugo appreciated the tribute and thanked the sculptor: ‘In this magnificent form, my friend, you are sending me immortality... You are an admirable man and I love you’.

The sale on November 26th will feature this bust portrait of Victor Hugo, at the age of 35 (estimate €50,000-80,000), reflecting the special relationship between the poet and the sculptor. It would appear to be the only known plaster copy bearing the same signatures, dates and dedications, the only other version being in terracotta, preserved in the Musée David in Angers.

On Wednesday November 27th, Artcurial will be auctioning a selection of miniature portraits from the Pierre Jourdan-Barry Collection. Assembled towards the end of the collector's life, it brings together some of the most outstanding examples of the art of miniature painting. As a fine connoisseur, Pierre Jourdan-Barry enjoyed immersing himself in the details of this demanding production and discovering the technical skill of these artists, who worked on enamel as well as ivory and vellum paper.

A miniature portrait of Louise d'Orléans by Jean-Baptiste Isabey (Nancy, 1767 - Paris, 1855), created in 1831 by the miniaturist, immortalizes the first Queen of the Belgians during her reign, from 1812 to 1850 (estimate €10,000 - 15,000). A selection of portraits by Marie-Gabrielle Capet (Lyon, 1761 - Paris, 1818) will also be presented, including a portrait of Baroness Dannery (estimate €30,000 - 50,000). Virtuose miniaturist, Marie-Gabrielle Capet was one of twenty-one women artists who exhibited for the first time at the Salon du Louvre in 1791, alongside her master Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.