Caricature of Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-1807); and Caricature of Comte Pierre-Louis Roederer (1751-1835)

Details

FRANÇOIS-ANDRÉ VINCENT (PARIS 1746-1816)
Caricature of Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-1807); and Caricature of Comte Pierre-Louis Roederer (1751-1835)
(i) with inscription 'Lalande' (lower center) and 'astronome né en 1732 mort en 1807/ membre de l'Institut. D.r de l'observatoire' (lower center)
(ii) with inscription 'Comte Roederer/ né à Metz en 1754' (lower center)
pen and brown ink
(i) 5 7⁄8 x 5 in. (15 x 12.7 cm); (ii) 5 ½ x 5 ¼ in. (14 x 13.2 cm)(2)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, ca. 1960 (without catalogue), as part of an album.
with Henri Baderou, Paris.
Elizabeth Paine, Mrs. Thomas Metcalf Card (1896-1992), Boston; by descent to
Joan Metcalf, Mrs. Henry Lee (1924-2019), Boston.

Literature

J.-P. Cuzin, 'Vincent de l'Académie de France à 'Institut de France', in La donation Suzanne et Henri Baderou au musée de Rouen. Peintures et dessins de l'École française, Paris, 1980, p. 99, note 19.
J.-P. Cuzin, François-André Vincent, 1746-1816 entre Fragonard et David, Paris, 2013, nos. 601D and 603D.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Giada Damen, Ph.D. AVP, Specialist, Head of Sale

gdamen@christies.com +1 212 641 7532

Lot Essay

Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-1807) was a French astronomer. He is famous for calculating the distance from the Earth to the Sun using the transit of Venus. Vincent made several caricatures of Lalande with different expressions, perhaps indicative of Lalande’s impassioned performance at the Institut meetings.

Comte Pierre Louis Roederer (1754-1835) was a French politician. Roederer was forced to flee during the Reign of Terror, but returned to politics when it ended. Roederer joined the Institut in 1796 and became a professor of political economy. Vincent depicts him here in a stern profile, with a stiff set to his lip and a furrowed brow.

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