Lot Essay
A preparatory study for the Bacchus and Ariadne (fig. 1) of 1693, commissioned by Philippe d'Orléans, the youngest brother of King Louis XIV, and now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, C. Bailey, Les Amours des Dieux, La peinture mythologique de Watteau à David, exhib. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 1991, no. 8, illustrated. It was probably one of the most successful composition by Coypel, of which at least nineteen copies are known to exist. The painting, long thought lost, reappeared in a sale at Christie's, Monaco, 15 June 1990, lot 50, illustrated
The present drawing is the only known preparatory drawing for the composition, although the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has a study, in the reverse sense, for the head of the satyr, C. Bailey, op. cit., p. 53, fig. 53. The present drawing differs slightly from the painting. Interestingly, infra-red photographs of the painting show an important number of modifications made directly on the canvas. Three stages can be distinguished in Coypel's preparation of the composition. The most important change between the underdrawing and the finished picture is the suppression of a rafraichissoir originally in the foreground of the painting, which is also absent in the drawing. Another major change can be seen in the figure of the satyr drinking wine on the right of the painting: Coypel's first thought was to turn the satyr to the right rather than to the left, with his head leaning slightly lower, as it is in the drawing.
The present drawing appears to be an intermediary study between Coypel's first ideas on canvas and the picture as it was finally painted. It would seem that the artist, after he had begun the painting, foresaw an important number of changes, and drew the present sheet in order to clarify his ideas before returning to the canvas.
The picture was one of the first to have been acquired by Monsieur, Duc d'Orléans, brother of King Louis XIV for his Cabinet at Saint-Cloud. Coypel was his peintre ordinaire and painted all the paintings for the Cabinet. Four years earlier the young Coypel had failed to win the last of the great royal commissions at the Trianon and, therefore, had to search for patrons. Above all he had to switch from large decorative schemes to easel pictures. The Duc de Richelieu and Roger de Piles promoted the young artist in the Querelle du Dessin et du Coloris, the quarrel over artistic theory between factions who advocated the relative pre-eminence of color or draftmanship. The champions of the colorist camp, Richelieu and Piles, strongly criticised the school of Le Brun, from which Coypel came. The present drawing reflects, in its vigorous and atmostpheric use of coloured chalk that recalls Rubens, the artist's attempt to distance himself from the well-ordered models of Versailles
The present drawing is the only known preparatory drawing for the composition, although the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has a study, in the reverse sense, for the head of the satyr, C. Bailey, op. cit., p. 53, fig. 53. The present drawing differs slightly from the painting. Interestingly, infra-red photographs of the painting show an important number of modifications made directly on the canvas. Three stages can be distinguished in Coypel's preparation of the composition. The most important change between the underdrawing and the finished picture is the suppression of a rafraichissoir originally in the foreground of the painting, which is also absent in the drawing. Another major change can be seen in the figure of the satyr drinking wine on the right of the painting: Coypel's first thought was to turn the satyr to the right rather than to the left, with his head leaning slightly lower, as it is in the drawing.
The present drawing appears to be an intermediary study between Coypel's first ideas on canvas and the picture as it was finally painted. It would seem that the artist, after he had begun the painting, foresaw an important number of changes, and drew the present sheet in order to clarify his ideas before returning to the canvas.
The picture was one of the first to have been acquired by Monsieur, Duc d'Orléans, brother of King Louis XIV for his Cabinet at Saint-Cloud. Coypel was his peintre ordinaire and painted all the paintings for the Cabinet. Four years earlier the young Coypel had failed to win the last of the great royal commissions at the Trianon and, therefore, had to search for patrons. Above all he had to switch from large decorative schemes to easel pictures. The Duc de Richelieu and Roger de Piles promoted the young artist in the Querelle du Dessin et du Coloris, the quarrel over artistic theory between factions who advocated the relative pre-eminence of color or draftmanship. The champions of the colorist camp, Richelieu and Piles, strongly criticised the school of Le Brun, from which Coypel came. The present drawing reflects, in its vigorous and atmostpheric use of coloured chalk that recalls Rubens, the artist's attempt to distance himself from the well-ordered models of Versailles