View of the Port of Marseille by Jean-Etienne Constant (1777-1833)

Beautiful view of the entrance to the port of Marseille at sunset.
The scene is bordered by the former hospital, now Fort St. Jean, and its square tower on the left, and by imposing three-masted ships on the right, docked in front of Fort Saint-Nicolas.
In the foreground, on various rocks, local fishermen and their boats, as well as Levantine merchants, are busy chatting peacefully.
In the background, the quayside of the old port and its mansions are overlooked by the Panier hill and, further away, the massif of the star emerging from the mist.

Oil on canvas signed Constant lower left for the painter Jean-Etienne Constant and dated 24 for 1824.

Very well preserved.

Dimensions:

Frame: width 96 cm; height: 75 cm
Canvas: 83 cm; Width: 62 cm

A view of the port of Marseille by Jean Etienne Constant is preserved at the Marseille History Museum, another at the city's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Jean-Etienne Constant is cited in volume 3 of the "Bénézit Dictionary of Artists" on page 1320.

Our opinion:

Jean-Etienne Constant was a French painter and miniaturist born in Vitrolles in 1777 and died in the same city in 1833.
Here, he presents a magnificent view of the port with meticulous detail in the depiction of ship rigging and architectural details such as the bell towers of the churches of Saint Laurent and Les Accules, or the Dome of Charity, built according to plans by Pierre Puget at the end of the 17th century.
Jean-Etienne Constant's reputation was so great at the beginning of the 19th century that an avenue in his hometown of Vitrolles was named after him. He worked all his life on miniatures, which makes his oil works particularly rare.