Allégorie sur l'Erection de la Statue de Louis XV (Allegory on the Establishment of a Statue of Louis XV)

c. 1763

Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin

Associated Names
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin

Artist, French, 1724 - 1780

This is a print showing a scene with large statues, swirling clouds, and several people. The lines are light gray against off-white paper, and many appear faded, making the shapes and forms hard to distinguish. At the center of the print is a tall statue of a person on horseback. People stand on the base of this statue, their arms outstretched upwards, one of them kneeling. To the right and left are more statues, seen from the side, that also feature people on horseback. Beneath them are crowds of people. Many of them hold objects, including scrolls, tools, flags, or bowls of fruit. In front of the central statue appears to be a pile of rubble, including several long logs and piles of fabric. A lion crouches on the left side, partially obscured. In the top left corner, figures appear amid the billowing clouds in the sky. Some of them look like cherubs, while others are indistinct. They appear to be holding a large, billowing fabric over the central statue.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching with traces of roulette and engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 31.7 × 23.7 cm (12 1/2 × 9 5/16 in.)
    sheet: 32.3 × 24.4 cm (12 11/16 × 9 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1951.16.67

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dacier 1914, no. 36, State ii/ii


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Henri-Jean Thomas [1872-1960], Paris, (Lugt 1378);

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1965

  • Of Time and the Image: Three Periods of Change, Philadelphia College of Art, 1965-1966, no. 41.

1984

  • Regency to Empire: French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Baltimore Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984-1985, no. 50, repro.

Bibliography

1914

  • Dacier, Emile. L'oeuvre grave de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin; notice biographique et catalogue raisonne. Paris: Societe pour l'Etude de la Gravure Francaise, 1914.

1984

  • Carlson, Victor I. and John W. Ittman. Regency to Empire : French Printmaking 1715-1814. Minneapolis, MN, 1984: no.50.

Markings

recto: none; verso: Henri-Jean Thomas (Lugt 1378)

Watermarks

to be identified

Wikidata ID

Q65224397

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