Attributed to Jean-Jacques LAGRENÉE

As Benjamin Peronnet has pointed out, Lagrenée ‘copied antiquity or rather reinterpreted it in his own way throughout his career...Lagrenée’s antiquity, like his mythological or historical scenes, is attractive and arranged in a picturesque and especially decorative way.’ The artist frequently experimented with different techniques in his work, and as a draughtsman was particularly fond of applying highlights in gold, often on prepared paper washed brown or a deep blue. As Victor Carlson has noted, ‘One of the most delightful aspects of Lagrenée’s art is his chiaroscuro drawings on blue paper, where the support is tinted with gouache or watercolour...creating a ground against which the figures are defined with black ink and white highlights. This combination of media is used to evoke a scintillating play of light over surfaces...The fact that highly finished chiaroscuro drawings...can be found throughout Europe at this time is one aspect of the growing preference for drawings as independent works of art.'

Lagrenée rarely signed his highly-finished drawings, which were nevertheless much sought-after by collectors. The Latin inscription on the present sheet may be approximately translated as ‘To his beloved sister, a grieving brother erected this monument in the year 1783.’