How does this artwork elucidate its Context and analysis?
Scipion was a model at the Académie Suisse, where Cézanne studied after arriving in Paris in 1862. Little else is known about him, but scholars speculate that he also posed for a plaster by Philippe Solari, which is exhibited at the Salon of 1868 titled Nègre endormi (Sleeping Negro).Scholars have offered various interpretations of the painting, often suggesting that Scipion is mourning over the death of an unknown person. Scholars also speculate that Cézanne may have initially included another figure in the painting in the area of the white mass, which he later painted over.The painting belonged to Monet, who owned thirteen other works by Cézanne. He kept this painting in his bedroom along with other favorite works. He considered it to be "un morceau de première force" ("a work of the greatest strength"). Originally, Monet acquired this canvas from Ambroise Vollard and subsequently passed to his son, Michel Monet, who sold it to the dealer Paul Rosenberg. The Museu de Arte in São Paulo purchased it from the Wildenstein Galleries in 1950.
Museu de Arte São Paulo Académie Suisse Philippe Solari Ambroise Vollard