Moses surrounded by angels, putti and prophets, after Baciccio: a pendentive

Details

FRANÇOIS BOUCHER (PARIS 1703-1770)
Moses surrounded by angels, putti and prophets, after Baciccio: a pendentive
red chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on pink prepared paper, ink framing lines
13 x 8 ½ in. (32.8 x 21.5 cm)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 5 July 1976, lot 69.
with Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York.
Gerald Bronfman (1911-1986) and Marjorie Bronfman, née Schechter (1917-2012), Montreal; by descent to
Corinne Bronfman (1947-2022), Washington DC; by descent to the present owners.

Exhibited

Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, From Boucher to Vuillard. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Marjorie Bronfman, 2000 (without catalogue).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Giada Damen, Ph.D. Specialist

gdamen@christies.com +1 212 641 7532

Lot Essay

This painterly sketch of a pendentive is based on a fresco decoration by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Il Baciccio (1639-1709), with The Lawmaker of Israel, painted in the Chiesa del Gesù in Rome (fig. 1; see F. Petrucci, Baciccio, Giovan Battista Gaulli 1639-1709, Rome, 2009, no. B.12, p. 212, fig. 264). A bozzetto and modello by Baciccio for the pendentive also exist (ibid., no. B.12a and no. B.12b). It is unclear which of these works was the source for Boucher's drawing. Alastair Laing had suggested that Boucher most likely executed the drawing upon his return to Paris in the 1750s and not while in Italy.

Although inspired by Gaulli’s work, Boucher reinterpreted the subject in his own distinctive style.

Fig. 1. Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Il Baciccio, Moses surrounded by angels. Chiesa del Gesù, Rome.

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