.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This drawing is a preliminary study for the head of Eve in Lemoyne's painting Adam and Eve, of circa 1723-26 known today only through an engraving by Laurent Cars (Lyon 1699-1771 Paris) (J.-L. Bordeaux, François LeMoyne 1688-1737 and his generation, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1984, p. 99, no. 51, fig. 50) and a recently rediscovered sketch in oil on copper by Lemoyne (Sotheby's, Paris, 24 June 2009, lot 49). In the present drawing Lemoyne has drawn Eve's head facing left, in reverse to her final pose in the painting and oil sketch. Her demurely downcast eyes are actually closest to her expression in a compositional drawing of the same subject at the Louvre, the only other known drawing associated with the painting (inv. 30510; Bordeaux, op. cit., p. 157, no. 78, fig. 206).
In the present drawing done in red and white chalk one can see the influence of Correggio and Federico Barocci, the latter of whose drawings Lemoyne is known to have copied.
The inscription lower left is in the same hand as other inscriptions on several Lemoyne drawings. Professor Jean-Luc Bordeaux has suggested that this could be in the hand of Lemoyne's great friend and patron, the financier François Berger (1684-1747).
We are grateful to Professor Bordeaux for his assistance is cataloguing this drawing. He will include this drawing in his forthcoming revised catalogue raisonné of the artist.
In the present drawing done in red and white chalk one can see the influence of Correggio and Federico Barocci, the latter of whose drawings Lemoyne is known to have copied.
The inscription lower left is in the same hand as other inscriptions on several Lemoyne drawings. Professor Jean-Luc Bordeaux has suggested that this could be in the hand of Lemoyne's great friend and patron, the financier François Berger (1684-1747).
We are grateful to Professor Bordeaux for his assistance is cataloguing this drawing. He will include this drawing in his forthcoming revised catalogue raisonné of the artist.