French School, mid-18th Century

Details
French School, mid-18th Century

A standing Angel playing a Lyre by a Statuette of an antique God on a Pedestal

black and red chalk, in an inscribed oval, watermark arms of France in crowned cartouche above palms
10 3/8 x 7 5/8in. (263 x 193mm.)

Lot Essay

The present drawing, which bears a stylistic affinity to the work of Bouchardon is inspired by the figure of a Muse which appears in plate 45 of Philipp von Stoch's, Pierres Antiques Gravées, Amsterdam, 1724.
The Muse is described as 'Muse, ouvrage d'Onese, en pâte antique jaune et transparente. Du Cabinet de M. l'Abbé Pierre Andreini noble Florentin'. The engraving was executed after a drawing in the same direction by Bernard Picart in the Metropolitan Museum, J. Bean, 15th-18th Century French Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986, no. 240, illustrated. The present drawing differs from Picart's image in its much freer handling, and in the addition by the present artist of wings to the standing figure of the Muse