François-Pascal-Simon Baron Gérard
Project of the ceiling of the library of the Music conservatory, 1812
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
watercolor over pencil, pen, and India ink
signed, titled, and dated "1812" on the lower left panel, the upper frieze depicts "The Triumphal March of Apollo Vanquishing the Serpent Python"; the lower frieze depicts "The Choir of Muses Singing the Glory of Jupiter Before Olympus", the four symbolic figures placed in the corners characterize the Pastoral, Religious, Tragic, and Comic genres. The side friezes bear the cipher of Napoleon ; (two sheets joined together)
The view : 40,5 x 80 cm ; 16 1/3 x 31 ½ in
Late collection of the nephew of the artist, Henri Gérard ;
Then dy descent to the collection of the comte de Foy ;
Hôtel Drouot, 3 December 1985, lot 11 ;
Late collection Alain Latreille ;
Millon & Associés, Paris, 8 December 2010, lot 157.
Le Sacre de Napoléon, 2022, exhibition catalogue, Chapelle des Jésuites de Saint-Omer, 18 June - 25 September 2022
H. Gerard, Lettres adressées au Baron François Gerard peintre d'histoire par les artistes et les personnages célèbres de son temps, Paris 1888, 2nd volume, mentioned p. 403
H. Gerard, Œuvre du Baron François Gerard, Paris 1857, 3rd volume, engraved by Ed. Rosotte
Le Sacre de Napoléon, Chapelle des Jésuites de Saint-Omer, 18 June – 25 September 2022
The Conservatoire National de Musique was founded in 1795 during the French Revolution, but it was under Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul and later Emperor, that it truly took on a structured form and was solidified as an institution of higher musical education. Napoleon recognized the importance of music in national culture and in shaping the image of imperial grandeur. However, historical events prevented the realization of the Conservatoire de Musique library, with this drawing serving as a rare testament to the ceiling project.
A preparatory drawing for this same ceiling, sketching “Le Triomphe d’Apollon,” was sold at Christie’s Paris on November 15, 2006, lot 201. This composition was intended to adorn one of the ceiling’s two friezes.