Workshop Of Louis De Boullogne - Moses Defending The Daughters Of Jethro Charles Le Brun

Workshop of Louis de BOULLOGNE
(Paris 1654 – Paris 1733)
Moses defending the daughters of Jethro
Oil on canvas
H. 75 cm; W. 106 cm

Produced at the end of the 17th century, this fairly large-format painting is a reworking of a work by the great Charles Le Brun. The characters are strictly the same, the colors used for their clothing also, but the composition is totally modified, going from a square format to a panoramic scene where the subjects move away and are reduced in the landscape. Certainly this type of scene and the way of composing it immediately brings to mind the airy works of the Boullogne brothers, Bon and Louis. Around 1675/80 the two artists graduated from the Academy with the grand prizes for painting and produced numerous copies of the masters, notably of the Italians during their respective stays in Rome, but also of some of their French contemporaries.

In this large piece, there is no need to look for the hand of a master, but rather that of a student taking up familiar subjects with the style of his trainer. This is most certainly the case here for a pupil of Louis de Boullogne whose way of composing is strongly distinguished, and by the lines of the faces as well as the landscape in the background.