François Guillaume Menageot 1744-1816 Attributed To, Cleobis And Biton Competition Of 1764

François Guillaume MENAGEOT 1744-1816 attributed to, Cleobis and Biton driving their mother's chariot to the temple of Juno oil on canvas, Louis XV style frame (dim: 167x134cm) By its style and its dimensions, our painting has every chance of to have been designed in the context of the “Grand Prix” of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, towards the end of the second third of the 18th century. In fact, the subject depicted, that of Cleobis and Biton, was precisely the one given to the candidates during the 1764 ordeal. Told by Herodotus, the story illustrates the filial love of two young Greeks of this name towards their mother Cydippe, priestess of HERA. When she was to be driven in her chariot to the temple, her two sons had pulled the chariot themselves, for lack of harnessing bulls. Thanks to the Proceedings of the Royal Academy, we know the names of the aspirants. In addition, more recent research on the "Grand Prix" of painting under the Ancien Régime has given rise to a list of the works preserved (see E. Schwartz, Le Grand Prix de peinture de l'Académie royale, 1663-1793, Paris, 2009). In the case of the 1764 competition, we know that the two “first prizes” were given to Antoine-François Callet (1741-1823) and Jean-Baptiste Alizard (ca. 1738 – 1779). The conclusion of the research on our painting is that it is a work of the young painter François-Guillaume Ménageot and it would be his very first painting then aged 20, he competed in 1765 (2nd prize) and won the 1st prize in 1766.