These are preparatory studies for the two figures flanking the Fontaine Molière, in the rue Richelieu near the Comédie Française, in Paris (fig. 1) . A national subscription was begun in 1838 by the comte Rambuteau, Préfet de la Seine, to raise funds for the building of a monument to Molière. The location had already been chosen two years earlier, when it was decided to enlarge the rue de Richelieu by building a fountain. The proximity of Molière's house prompted its dedication to the playwright. Visconti became general designer of the project and Seurre was chosen as the main sculptor. In 1839 Pradier was awarded the remaining commission for the two allegories of comedy below the seated figure of Molière.
Pradier's first project comprised of two statues of Fame, facing each other and distinguished only by the names of Molière's plays inscribed on their scrolls, Statues de Chair, Sculpture de James Pradier, exhib. cat., Geneva, Musée d'art et d'histoire, 1986, no. 28, illustrated. A drawing in Geneva records a further project with an allegorical figure of comédie légère but semi-nude, and in a different position from the final work, Geneva, op. cit., no. 130, illustrated.
The present drawings are very close to the figures as finally executed, and were probably among the last to be made. They differ only in the position of the head of comédie sérieuse which is turned upwards rather than to the left.
Upon the inauguration of the fountain, in January 1844, the two Pradier sculptures were highly praised by critics. Théophile Gautier remarked that 'la figure de droite est un portrait que tout le monde reconnaîtra, ce n'est pas un défaut, car la tête est très jolie': the portrait in question is thought to be that of Louise Pradier, the artist's wife. The rest of the fountain was, unfortunately for Seurre, found wanting in comparison with Pradier's figures