The Sultan's Rejoicings, Attributed To Jean-baptiste Pater 1695-1736

Réjouissances du Sultan, attributed to Jean-Baptiste PATER (Valencienne, 1695 - Paris, 1736) Oil on canvas: 75 cm x 63 cm without frame With old frame: 96 cm x 82 cm Born in Valencienne, Jean-Baptiste Pater began as an apprentice sculptor with his father, but painting quickly became his favorite art, which he studied at a very young age at the Guild of Saint-Luc and alongside Antoine Watteau in Valencienne and then in Paris. Their collaboration was stormy and ended with Watteau's death. He was received at the academy in 1728 with a country party. Many gallant parties made his reputation. Frederick the Great and Philippe de La Force were his most prestigious clients. Frederick the Great posed in the painting "Du Sultan au Jardin". The scene takes place in the Sultan's Palace, the semi-circular room opening onto the garden is decorated with columns and niches where vases of flowers rest on large stands. The Sultan is seated under a red silk canopy topped with a crescent, he smokes admiring a young dancer dressed in a yellow and blue Tafta dress decorated with a brooch, she undulates gracefully and languidly to the sounds of the drum and cymbals. Other groups of young women just as richly dressed bring drinks and sweets on silver trays, the atmosphere is joyful, a harmony of bright colors, the delicacy of the faces, of the hands, testify to the talent of the artist and lead us to attribute this scene to Jean-Baptiste Pater. Jean-Baptiste Pater.