The Abduction of Helen

This intriguing and refined work stages a theatrical interpretation of the Abduction of Helen, the moment that would launch the Trojan war. On a shaded riverbank, Helen, with her servant behind her holding a chest, is ushered by Paris towards a waiting boat. The sense of theatricality is evidenced in the characters' costumes, with Paris apparently dressed as Pierrot, bearing a spear and wearing armour, and Helen in an elaborate silk gown. Probably painted in the 1730s, the characters are elegantly drawn and finished with flair. Helen's open-palmed hands offer a subtle gesture of resistance as the wind billows in her dress; the picture is imbued with a graceful sense of movement. The colouring is pleasing and the paint is handled with sophistication: the highlights of Helen's gown are delicately but confidently applied, while the glazes of Paris's costume and the plume of the helmet are equally assuredly worked. Undoubtedly, the composition demonstrates a familiarity with Claude Gillot and Nicolas Lancret; yet if the work is French in influence, it would appear to be English in execution. The author, however, is not as yet clear. The facial types of the figures bear some relation to those in Philip Mercier's oeuvre, and while the overall composition recalls the work of Joseph Francis Nollekens, who painted fêtes galantes and is thought to have come to England in the 1730s, Nollekens lacked the fine polished feel of the present lot.