Design of a sun dial with allegorical figures

Claude-Guy belonged to a family of artists. His father, Daniel (1614-1675), and his youngest son, Noël (1711-1781), were all part of the Hallé dynasty (see N. Willk-Brocard, Une dynastie. Les Hallé, Daniel (1614-1675), Claude-Guy (1652-1736), Noël (1711-1781), Paris, 1995). Claude-Guy was an important artist in his time, becoming peintre du roi in 1691 and director of the Académie royale in 1733.

This drawing depicts a sundial surrounded by allegorical figures: Time with a sickle and an hourglass, and putti holding different objects (a telescope, a compass, a set square). The three central figures are colored while the rest of the composition is in grisaille. A very similar drawing by Claude-Guy Hallé is in the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin and it is considered a design for a book illustration (inv. 3231; ibid., no. C177, ill.).