Views of the Ports of France
# Views of the Ports of France

The Views of the Ports of France (French: Vues des ports de France) are a series of paintings by French painter Claude-Joseph Vernet, made between 1754 and 1765 to answer a requirement by King Louis XV. Representing ten harbours, they were meant to document and promote commerce and naval service.

## History

In 1753, Abel-François Poisson de Vandières suggested to King Louis XV that Vernet realise a series of paintings documenting and exalting the harbours of France. The Crown ordered 24 paintings, each paid 6000 Livres tournois, with detailed specifications, such as the foreground representing the activities of the local industry.

Between 1753 and 1765, Vernet traveled to ten of the harbours (Marseille, Bandol, Toulon, Antibes, Sète, Bordeaux, Bayonne, La Rochelle, Rochefort and Dieppe), and eventually completed 15 of the intended 24 views. The paintings were exposed at the Salon de peinture et de sculpture, with long descriptions detailing their technical aspects. From 1758, engraved reproductions of the paintings were made by Charles-Nicolas Cochin and Jacques-Philippe Le Bas and published; they proved popular and were reprinted several times.

The series consolidated Vernet's status as a marine painter, and from then on his paintings were highly priced, "worth their weigh in gold" according to Pierre-Jean Mariette, with patrons such as Catherine II of Russia.

## Legacy

In 1791, Jean-François Hue, himself a student of Vernet's, was tasked to complete the series. Between 1792 and 1798, he completed six paintings representing harbours of Bretagne, known as the Vues des ports de Bretagne. In 1793, the Ports de France were amongst the first works exposed at the "Central Museum of Arts", which would become the Louvre Museum.

In 1943, the State Secretary of the Navy requested that the paintings be attached to the Musée national de la Marine; thirteen of the paintings ended up transferring, while the last two remained at the Louvre. The paintings were all shown together in 1976.

## Paintings

All of the paintings are oil on canvas, with the same dimensions of 165 by 263 cm.

| City | Title | Year | Dimensions (H×L, cm) | Collection |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Marseille | L'Entrée du port de Marseille | 1754 | 165×265 | Musée du Louvre |
| Marseille | Intérieur du port de Marseille, vu du pavillon de l'Horloge du Parc | 1754 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Bandol | Vue du golfe de Bandol : la Madrague ou la pêche au thon | 1754 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Toulon | Première vue de Toulon, vue du Port-Neuf, prise de l'angle du parc d'artillerie | 1754 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Toulon | Deuxième vue de Toulon : vue de la ville et de la rade | 1755 | 165×263 | Musée du Louvre |
| Toulon | Troisième vue de Toulon : la vieille darse, prise du côté des magasins aux vivres | 1755 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Antibes | Le Port d'Antibes en Provence, vu du côté de la terre | 1756 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Sète | Vue du Port de Cette | 1756-57 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Bordeaux | Vue d'une partie de port et de la ville de Bordeaux, prise du côté des Salinières | 1758-59 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Bordeaux | Deuxième vue de Bordeaux : prise du château Trompette | 1759 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Bayonne | Première vue de Bayonne prise à mi-côte sur le glacis de la citadelle | 1760 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Bayonne | Deuxième vue de Bayonne, prise de l'allée des Boufflers, près de la porte de Mousserole | 1761 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| La Rochelle | Vue du port de La Rochelle, prise de la petite Rive | 1762 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Rochefort | Vue du port de Rochefort, prise du magasin des Colonies | 1762 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |
| Dieppe | Vue du port de Dieppe | 1765 | 165×263 | Musée national de la Marine |

## Notes, citations, and references

### Citations

* 1 2 3 L'Histoire des tableaux, Musée national de la Marine.
* ↑ Charlotte Guichard, Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire (dir.) et Pierrick Pourchasse (dir.), « Les circulations artistiques en Europe (années 1680-années 1780) », dans Les circulations internationales en Europe, années 1680-années 1780, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2010, p. 391
* ↑ Base Joconde: Le Port de Marseille, French Ministry of Culture. (in French)
* ↑ Base Joconde: La Ville et la Rade de Toulon, French Ministry of Culture. (in French)
* ↑ Base Joconde: Vue de Bayonne, prise à mi-côte sur le Glacis de la Citadelle, French Ministry of Culture. (in French)
* ↑ Base Joconde: Vue de Bayonne, prise de l'allée de Boufflers près de la porte de Mousserole, French Ministry of Culture. (in French)

### References

* Alliot-Duchêne, Virginie; Demarcq, Marie-Pierre; Madet-Vache, Annie; Boëll, Denis-Michel (2012). Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) : Les vues des ports de France. Musée national de la Marine. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6.
* Ports de France, Joseph Vernet, musée national de la Marine
