Quebec’s Culture and Communications Minister, Marie Montpetit, announced Monday that a buzzworthy religious painting will remain within Quebec.
“Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgement,” also known as “Saint Jerome,” is a painting by French artist Jacques-Louis David. The historic painting currently hangs in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as it has for a century, and is owned by the Quebec Archdiocese.
But over the last few days, the oeuvre has become the topic of a heated debate. The National Gallery of Canada, located in Ottawa, expressed an interest in purchasing the painting. A debate ensued about whether the work has provincial or national heritage – putting the brakes on a potential sale because of its “exceptional” heritage value to Quebec.
Montpetit’s announcement that the work will stay in Quebec comes with a new mandate—the province’s culture ministry must develop a strategy to protect “movable property of a religious nature.”
The National Gallery of Canada, however, announced Monday its intention to set up “long term loan agreements” of the painting with other Quebec institutions – an idea that Marc Mayer, director of the National Gallery, dismissed.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Mayer said argued that a precious painting is not like a child that a separated couple shares every second weekend.
The National Gallery recently announced its intention to sell a coveted Chagall painting from its collection in order to acquire David’s “Saint Jerome” and keep it within Canada.
