Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel

Commissioned by Charles-Marie-Jean-Baptiste Marcotte d'Argenteuil [1773-1864], Paris; his daughter, Mme Alexandre Legentil, née Marie Marcotte [1828-1920], Paris, by 1867;[1] her niece, Mme Marcel Pougin de la Maisonneuve, née Elizabeth Marcotte [d. 1939], Paris, by 1921;[2] (Wildenstein & Co., New York), 1940-1949; sold June 1949 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 to NGA. [1] The exhibition catalogue _Tableaux, études peintes, dessins et croquis de J.A.D. Ingres_, no. 73 (Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, 1867) gives the owner as M. Legentil. The 1949 Wildenstein précis in NGA curatorial files lists Marcotte's daughter, Mme Legentil, as the owner. [2] According to the catalogue _Exhibition Ingres_, no. 19 (Association Franco-Américaine, Chambre Syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1921). Hans Naef, in _Die Bildniszeichnungen von J.-A.-D. Ingres_, 5 vols., Bern, 1977-1980: II(1978):532-533, describes the inheritance of the Marcotte family portrait collection as follows: When Marie Legentil died without children in 1920, her entire collection was bequeathed to her niece, Mme Pougin de la Maisonneuve. When Mme Pougin de la Maisonneuve died in 1939, she left her collection divided between her two daughters, Geneviève de Laporte and Marie-Louise Chavane, and a trust for her grandson François-Louis (son of her deceased son). [3] The Wildenstein invoice to the Kress Foundation for 16 items, including this painting, is dated 23 June 1949 (copy in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/1660).