Description
The most important French painter of his generation, Antoine Coypel worked during the period of transition from the monarchy of Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715) through the Regency (1715-1723) and the ascendance of Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774). A beautiful colorist also steeped in the academic tradition of drawing, Coypel used red, black, and white chalk together on this sheet to achieve tonal range. The drawing is connected to Coypel's greatest achievement: the series of large painted decorations for the Gallery of Aeneas in the Palais Royal in Paris. This study of facial expression shows one of the mourners attending the funeral of Pallas, a scene from Virgil's (70-19 bc) Aeneid. Though this painting still exists in the collection of the Louvre Museum, it is in a ruined state. Most of the paintings for the Gallery of Aeneas did not survive at all, but there are numerous drawings for the project.
Provenance
Pierre-Jean Mariette (Lugt 1852, lower left, in black ink); [probably lot 1215 in the Mariette sale, Paris, 15 November 1775-30 January 1776; see F. Basan, Catalogue Raisonné des différens objets de curiosités dans les Sciences et Arts qui composoient le Cabinet de feu Mr Mariette (Paris, 1775), 185, no. 1215: "Coypel (Antoine) / Six Sujets & Têtes diverses, dont Vénus & Enée, Tête au pastel, &c."] [lot 1215 sold to Baron de Lunas (annotated copy of catalogue, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques)]. Sir George Leon; The Lady Dunalley; [her sale, Christie's, London (8 December 1976), no. 107, repr.]; purchased in 1976.
Accession Number
2008.342
Medium
red, black, and white chalk with stumping
Dimensions
Sheet: 25.1 x 18.9 cm (9 7/8 x 7 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin