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Lot Essay
Related to the ceiling painted by La Fosse in 1690-2 in the staircase of Montagu House in London. Montagu house was destroyed in the 19th Century to leave place for the British Museum, but the appearance of the staircase is recorded in a watercolor by Georges Scharf, executed in 1845, now in the British Museum. The decorations of Montagu house were commissioned by Ralph, Duke of Montagu, to La Fosse during his second trip in England.
The ceiling depicted Phaeton demanding the Chariot from Apollo. La Fosse followed closely Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book II: 'As Phaeton, full of confidence in himself, was examining and admiring the chariot, far in the east Dawn threw wide the shining doors of her rosefilled chambers. The stars fled away, the Morning star shepherding their long columns, and leaving his post in heaven last of all. When the Sungod saw his star setting, when he saw the sky reddening and the horses of the vanishing moon fading from sight, he told the Hours to yoke his team' and further Ovid adds 'While I have been talking, dewy night has reached its goal, far off the western shore, We can delay no longer: we must appear. Dawn shines forth, putting darkness to flight'. The figures of the present drawing, which were painted in the top right corner of the ceiling, represent Dewy Night as Diana and her attendants pouring dew from heaven; the Morning Star and Dawn Aurora, the figure with the Sun.
The Duke of Montagu, renowned for his patronage of the arts, most probably met the artist during one of his trips to France and it was to La Fosse, together with Jacques Rousseau and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, that he turned to when decorating his own sumptuous palace, Montagu House, in London. La Fosse made a short visit to London in 1688-9 and completed most of the commissions from 1690 to 1692. Montagu House was greatly admired at the time and described by Colsoni in the 1693 Guide de Londres as 'the most beautiful and richest of England as much because of its' placement and great order as for its admirable architecture and the rare paintings which delight both the eye and the spirit'. La Fosse's contribution attracted the attention of the new monarch, King William III, who, according to the Mmoires indits and notebooks of George Vertue, invited La Fosse to work at Hampton Court and offered him the position of First Painter to the King. La Fosse was, however, called back to France by Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Surintendant des Btiments, to decorate the Invalides, one of the last great artistic commissions of the reign of King Louis XIV.
Drawings on blue paper are very rare in La Fosse' oeuvre, another drawing on blue paper, also related to Montagu house was sold at Christie's London, 5 July 1994, lot 92.
We are grateful to Joanne Hedley for confirming the attribution and providing the information for the present lot.
The ceiling depicted Phaeton demanding the Chariot from Apollo. La Fosse followed closely Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book II: 'As Phaeton, full of confidence in himself, was examining and admiring the chariot, far in the east Dawn threw wide the shining doors of her rosefilled chambers. The stars fled away, the Morning star shepherding their long columns, and leaving his post in heaven last of all. When the Sungod saw his star setting, when he saw the sky reddening and the horses of the vanishing moon fading from sight, he told the Hours to yoke his team' and further Ovid adds 'While I have been talking, dewy night has reached its goal, far off the western shore, We can delay no longer: we must appear. Dawn shines forth, putting darkness to flight'. The figures of the present drawing, which were painted in the top right corner of the ceiling, represent Dewy Night as Diana and her attendants pouring dew from heaven; the Morning Star and Dawn Aurora, the figure with the Sun.
The Duke of Montagu, renowned for his patronage of the arts, most probably met the artist during one of his trips to France and it was to La Fosse, together with Jacques Rousseau and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, that he turned to when decorating his own sumptuous palace, Montagu House, in London. La Fosse made a short visit to London in 1688-9 and completed most of the commissions from 1690 to 1692. Montagu House was greatly admired at the time and described by Colsoni in the 1693 Guide de Londres as 'the most beautiful and richest of England as much because of its' placement and great order as for its admirable architecture and the rare paintings which delight both the eye and the spirit'. La Fosse's contribution attracted the attention of the new monarch, King William III, who, according to the Mmoires indits and notebooks of George Vertue, invited La Fosse to work at Hampton Court and offered him the position of First Painter to the King. La Fosse was, however, called back to France by Jules-Hardouin Mansart, Surintendant des Btiments, to decorate the Invalides, one of the last great artistic commissions of the reign of King Louis XIV.
Drawings on blue paper are very rare in La Fosse' oeuvre, another drawing on blue paper, also related to Montagu house was sold at Christie's London, 5 July 1994, lot 92.
We are grateful to Joanne Hedley for confirming the attribution and providing the information for the present lot.