Etienne Parrocel

Sale, Monaco, Christie's, 30 June 1995, lot 69;

Pierre Pfeiffer, London

Munich, Bernheimer, The Pfeiffer Collection of Old Master Drawings, 2001, pp. 46–47, reproduced.

A prolific draughtsman, Etienne Parrocel produced a considerable number of drawings, ranging from copies after the antique, to studies and finished compositions. Whereas the majority of his drawings after the antique¹ and finished compositions were done in pen and brush and brown ink, his studies are, for the most part, executed in black chalk heightened with white chalk, although there are a number of drawings done exclusively in red chalk.

The present sheet is a wonderful example of Etienne Parrocel's graphic style, characterized by long contour lines and dynamic hatching.² Executed on well preserved blue paper, the drawing has a real sense of three dimensionality, which was central to the artist's drawn oeuvre. From the addition of subsidiary studies, not all of which clearly relate to the figures of Christ and the Virgin, it is evident that Parrocel is trying to work out the composition, however this drawing has not been connected to any surviving work.

Descending from a large artistic dynasty, Etienne Parrocel trained under his uncle Pierre Parrocel, who in turn trained in the studio of Carlo Maratta, and the influence of both artists is evident in Etienne's practice. In 1717 Etienne Parrocel moved to Rome and adopted the Italian name Stefano.

^1.The Louvre Museum has 324 works on paper by Etienne Parrocel in their collection, most of which are drawings after the antique. Inv. no. RF 3729

^2.O. Michel in Une Dynastie de peintres les Parrocel (Carnets d'études 9), exhib. cat., Paris, École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts; Avignon, Musée Calvet, 2008, pp. 63-65