Henry de TRIQUETI (1803-1874) Divine Mercy Welcoming Repentance Ivory group Signed "H de TRIQUETI" on the left side of the throne; Latin inscription on right side: "ET MANSIT TANTUM MISERA CUM MISERICORDIA". 31.5 x 13 x 18 cm; Gross weight: 5488 g Provenance: Château du Perthuis. The work has obtained its CIC certificate number FR2504501478-K, issued on November 19, 2025, which will be given to the purchaser. This certificate authorizes the movement of the ivory within the European Community, but not outside the EC, with certain exceptions. This carved ivory group representing Divine Mercy Welcoming Repentance is indisputably, in terms of both size and quality, one of Henry de Triqueti's major works and one of the masterpieces of 19th-century French ivory art. The sculpture alone encapsulates the art of the artist favored by the princely families of Orleans and Windsor. Through the depiction of a Christian virtue, the work bears witness to the still-prevalent influence of neo-classicism and the artist's infatuation with Renaissance decor. The choice of subject and its dramatic sense are in keeping with the Romantic movement, of which Triqueti is one of the most famous exponents, while at the same time reflecting his deep religious feelings. Finally, the choice of a material such as ivory testifies to Triqueti's open-minded, protean and eclectic creativity, as well as his constant interest in traditional and innovative techniques. The two figures, carved from two separate blocks of ivory, intertwine and are inserted at the elbows and forearms, and are admired for their quality of execution and emotional charge. A woman with long hair, stripped bare and kneeling, clutches the neck of another motherly, majestic woman, richly dressed in antique style and seated on a throne with imperial attributes of unprecedented luxury. A Latin phrase inscribed on the left side of the throne illustrates the episode: QUE MANSIT.TANTUM.MISERA./CUM/MISERICORDIA serves as a title and explanation of the subject. The work can undoubtedly be considered a devotional object, like the small medieval works in ivory - statuettes of the Virgin and Child, diptychs or portable altarpieces. However, the artist distinguished himself from this production with a spectacular visual innovation: the group presents two parallel narrative sequences on each side. On the left, Mary Magdalene is shown with her side completely bare. A symbolic image of Eve "the wrongdoer", she begs on her knees for absolution from her sins from the imperious woman she clutches, full of hope. The latter has already tenderly slipped her left hand into the repentant woman's sensual hair. The visual connection between the two women is unusually intense and passionate. Mary Magdalene's gaze is one of supplication, Mercy's one of love and forgiveness. The right-hand side of the work shows the moving moment of forgiveness. With a maternal gesture, Mercy embraces and seems to protect Mary Magdalene in her bosom, while modestly covering her nakedness with her many-folded cloak. With her right foot, she crushes in victory the skull of Vanity, the saint's traditional attribute and symbol of the fragility of the flesh, inviting repentance. While the genesis of the work is well defined, the date of its execution remains uncertain. Subject to various fluctuations, specialists are not unanimous about the date. In her 1991 article "La renaissance de l'ivoire", nineteenth-century sculpture specialist Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre put forward the hypothesis of an early date of creation, just after the first sketch in Pisa in 1836. In 2007, the artist's specialist Richard Dagorne cautiously suggested that a handwritten note kept by the heirs dated it to 1869. Isabelle Leroy-Jay Lemaistre's catalog for the 2007 exhibition dedicated to the artist also supports this date. The artist's habit of regularly returning to the models and subjects he loved throughout his career makes it difficult to date [...]. WE INVITE YOU TO CONSULT THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION BY DOWNLOADING THE DOCUMENT "FICHE COMPLÈTE" ON DROUOT.COM OR BY REFERRING TO THE PDF CATALOG.