Noce de Village (Village Wedding)

1785

Charles-Melchior Descourtis after Nicolas Antoine Taunay

Associated Names
Charles-Melchior Descourtis

Artist, French, 1753 - 1820

Nicolas Antoine Taunay

Artist After, French, 1755 - 1830

This is a painting of a village scene under a large tent. The painting depicts numerous figures in a rustic outdoor setting. The central focus is a figure dressed in a white garment in the foreground, appearing to be in motion. Around the figures under the tent are others engaged in conversation and socializing. The scene is detailed with wooden furniture, musical instruments, pets, and traditional attire. The tent is made of draped fabric, with trees and a clouded sky in the background. The style is reminiscent of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, known for Rococo-style paintings filled with social interactions.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    color etching and wash-manner engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 31.1 x 23.4 cm (12 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1958.8.86

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Marquis de Varennes. (sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 3 June 1955, lot 45 [set of 10 prints, this impression illustrated on pl. VI]). Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1958.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1962

  • Color in Prints: an Exhibition of European and American Color Prints from 1500 to the Present, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, 1962-1963, no. 46.

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. 97j, repro.

2003

  • Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004, no. 55j.

Bibliography

1984

  • Carlson, Victor I. and John W. Ittman. Regency to Empire : French Printmaking 1715-1814. Minneapolis, MN, 1984: no.97j.

2003

  • Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in Eighteenth-Century France. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2003-2004: no. 55j.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, below image, at left: Taunay pinx.; in plate, below image, at right: Descourtis sculp.; in plate, below image, at center: NOCE DE VILLAGE / Tiré du Cabinet de Monsieur Godefroy / Ancien Controleur Général de la Marine.

Markings

recto: C D on either side of a scepter with a star ink-stamped in red [not in Lugt]; verso: Rosenwald

Wikidata ID

Q65222271

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