An angel in the clouds

Related to Coypel's now-destroyed painting of The Annunciation of circa 1702, formerly in the chapel at Meudon, known through an engraving by Pierre Drevet (fig. 1; see N. Garnier, Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), Paris, 1989, p. 146, under no. 83, fig. 171). Two additional preparatory drawings for this composition are known - one, a compositional drawing inscribed in the same shaped cartouche as the engraving (Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, NM. 2862/1863), and a study of the bust of the angel, made in red chalk and squared (Paris, Louvre, Inv. 25.751) (Garnier, op. cit., pp. 203, nos. 294, 296, figs. 172-3).

We are grateful to Nicole Garnier for confirming the attribution to Coypel based on a digital image.