Andrew Green Simpson Semmes
ARTIST: Joseph-Pierre Picot de Limoëlan de Clorivière (1768-1826). He was born into a noble family in Brittany, France. Educated at the Royal Military Academy, he was an officer in the French army under Louis XVI until the Revolution cut his reign short. A royalist, he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Napoleon in 1800. A wanted man, he fled to America accompanied by his sister and brother-in-law John Baptiste Mark Michael de Chappedelaine in 1803. Chappedelaine was heir to extensive American property, including parts of Sapelo and Jekyll Islands, a mill in New Jersey, assorted assets in Rhode Island, and land in Ohio. Returning to France later that year, Chappedelaine left his brother-in-law in charge of settling his inheritance.
In late 1803 Clorivière advertised in Savannah that: “MR. CLORIVIERE OFFERS his talents IN MINIATURE PAINTING to the Ladies and Gentlemen who desire their Likenesses. Price twenty-five Dollars…” In addition to the Savannah River Valley, Clorivière also painted in Kentucky, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. while he pursuing his brother-in-law’s legal claims. In 1806 he advertised in Baltimore. His work is often signed “Picot” or “Picot Clorivière.”
A devout Catholic, Clorivière had corresponded with Bishop John Carroll (1735-1815) in Baltimore as early as 1803 about the lack of priests in America. Five years later, after settling his brother-in-law’s affairs, Clorivière entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained in 1812 and assigned to St. Mary’s Church in South Carolina. Following a brief return to France in 1815 he was assigned as the priest-confessor to the Sisters of the Visitation at Georgetown. During his time with the sisters he designed and oversaw construction of a number of major building projects for their monastery and its associated academy. He died in Georgetown in 1826.
RELATED OBJECTS: MESDA has three works by Joseph-Pierre Picot de Limoëlan de Clorivière: a portrait miniature of Andrew Green Simpson Semmes (MESDA acc. 2287.1); a portrait miniature of Hazen Kimball (MESDA acc. 5112); and a portrait miniature of John Davant (MESDA acc. 5369.3).
REFERENCES:
Stephen C. Worsley, “Joseph-Pierre Picot de Limoëlan de Clorivière: A Portrait Miniaturist Revealed,” Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (Winter 2002).
https://archive.org/details/journalofearlyso2822002muse
DESCRIPTION: Miniature on ivory of a young man who faces forward. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, a very fair complexion, and he wears a black coat, a white stock, and a lavender lined vest. The miniature is signed by the artist in the lower left, and it is mounted in gold-washed copper frame with loops at the top.
