Joseph II Cellony (1730-1787)

The death of Germanicus

Details

Joseph II Cellony (1730-1787)
Cellony, J.
The death of Germanicus
with inscription 'vendu pour originale de Baudorion [?]' (verso)
black chalk, pen and black ink, brown and gray wash heightened with gray and white on light brown paper
10.7/8 x 17 in. (275 x 430 mm.)

Provenance

M.G.T. de Villenave (L. 2598).

Lot Essay

Joseph II Cellony was from a family of artists active in Aix-en-Provence in the 17th and 18th Century. He studied with Dandr-Bardon in Aix, with whose drawings his are often confused, and was part of the Acadmie de Marseilles. Mariette owned one of his drawings. A signed sheet by Cellony is illustrated in P. Rosenberg, 'Dandr-Bardon as a Draughtsman: A Group of Drawings at Stuttgart', Master Drawings, 1974, XII, p. 148, figs. 20-1. Two further signed drawings of The death of Cleopatra, formerly on the Paris art market, show a grouping of figures similar to that of Germanicus' wife and children to the right of the bed. Further drawings by Cellony are in the Horvitz Collection.