Lot Essay
This study was probably part of an album of 150 drawings acquired by the Goncourt brothers in 1881 from M. Jacquinot, a Parisian amateur. The album was dismembered by the Goncourt, some framed and the less important sheets sold. The album contained many preliminary studies for prints which Eisen would submit to the publisher for his approval, before making a more finished drawing often on vellum.
The present drawing may be a preparatory study for a lost painting of the same subject painted before 1775, recorded in the Trez sale, Brussels, 21-2 July 1775, lot 149. A vignette of the same subject is at Brussels and a drawing of Apollo and the Graces was in the collection of the painter Devéria, recorded in his sale at Drouot, 8 - 9 April 1858, part of lot 133
The present drawing may be a preparatory study for a lost painting of the same subject painted before 1775, recorded in the Trez sale, Brussels, 21-2 July 1775, lot 149. A vignette of the same subject is at Brussels and a drawing of Apollo and the Graces was in the collection of the painter Devéria, recorded in his sale at Drouot, 8 - 9 April 1858, part of lot 133