Lot Essay
This stylish and amusing painting is an early work by Boilly, dating from just around the start of the French Revolution. Soon thereafter, Boilly would devote much of his energy to multifigural genre scenes, often with topical political themes, but in the last years of the ancien rgime he specialized in risqu boudoir comedies that found great popularity among private collectors.
Lounging on a gilt Louis XVI canap, a beautiful young woman in artfully arranged decolltage, languidly orders her lapdog to protect her -- hence, the mischievous title 'Defend me!' -- from the obviously welcome advances of a handsome suitor, who unties a pink ribbon from her stocking. A statue of Cupid seems to peek at them from behind a green drape.
Dfends moi displays the characteristics that made Boilly a favorite painter of connoisseurs at the end of the 18th century: witty and worldly without the taint of vulgarity, it is painted with an enameled technique that demands comparison with Metsu and the best of the 17th-century Dutch masters. Taking undisguised pleasure in the masterly recreation of opulent silks and satins, Boilly succeeds in evoking a soon-to-be-lost world of delectation and luxury.
Dfends moi was engraved by Petit and, according to Harrisse, once had a pendant known as 'La leon d'amour conjugal' (now lost). Harrisse also records a watercolor called Dfends moi which was attributed to Boilly (op. cit., no. 912).
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonn of the paintings of Boilly being prepared by Etienne Breton and Pascal Zuber.
Lounging on a gilt Louis XVI canap, a beautiful young woman in artfully arranged decolltage, languidly orders her lapdog to protect her -- hence, the mischievous title 'Defend me!' -- from the obviously welcome advances of a handsome suitor, who unties a pink ribbon from her stocking. A statue of Cupid seems to peek at them from behind a green drape.
Dfends moi displays the characteristics that made Boilly a favorite painter of connoisseurs at the end of the 18th century: witty and worldly without the taint of vulgarity, it is painted with an enameled technique that demands comparison with Metsu and the best of the 17th-century Dutch masters. Taking undisguised pleasure in the masterly recreation of opulent silks and satins, Boilly succeeds in evoking a soon-to-be-lost world of delectation and luxury.
Dfends moi was engraved by Petit and, according to Harrisse, once had a pendant known as 'La leon d'amour conjugal' (now lost). Harrisse also records a watercolor called Dfends moi which was attributed to Boilly (op. cit., no. 912).
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonn of the paintings of Boilly being prepared by Etienne Breton and Pascal Zuber.