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Lot Essay
The attribution to Vigée was kindly suggested by Neil Jeffares. Mr Jeffares dates the pastel to circa 1745-50, comparing it with a portrait of the actress Mademoiselle Dangeville as Colette in Dancourt's Les Trois Cousines, now in the Musée de la Comédie française, Paris, which is signed and dated 1745. Owing to the similarity of costume, Mr Jeffares further suggests that the present pastel may show Jélyotte in a role in the same work.
Pierre de Jélyotte (1713-1797), both a singer and a composer, trained in Toulouse before making his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1733. His most productive partnership was with Rameau, who created or adapted many of his greatest roles to take advantage of Jélyotte's range and vocal agility. Many portraits of Jélyotte have come down to us, of which those by Cochin, Tocqué and Coypel are the best known.
We are very grateful to Neil Jeffares for his kind help in cataloguing this portrait.
Pierre de Jélyotte (1713-1797), both a singer and a composer, trained in Toulouse before making his debut at the Paris Opéra in 1733. His most productive partnership was with Rameau, who created or adapted many of his greatest roles to take advantage of Jélyotte's range and vocal agility. Many portraits of Jélyotte have come down to us, of which those by Cochin, Tocqué and Coypel are the best known.
We are very grateful to Neil Jeffares for his kind help in cataloguing this portrait.