François Boitard (1670-1715) Abraham And The Three Angels, Signed Drawing

François Boitard (1670-1715)
Abraham and the Three Angels,
Signed lower left "F Boitard (...) fecit (...)"
28 x 44 cm
Pen and ink on yellow prepared paper
In good condition
Framed 47 x 64 cm

This drawing depicts the scene in Genesis 18:1-15, in which three angels appear to Abraham after he offers them hospitality. The angels announce the future birth of his son. Standing in the doorway on the left is his wife Sarah, who is too old to bear a child. She smiles mockingly in response to this prediction. A year later, Abraham and Sarah had a child and named him Isaac, which means 'he will laugh' in Hebrew, in reference to his mother's laughter. This Old Testament scene is considered a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

The particular interest of this classic scene from 17th-century French art is the profusion of details that organise the reading from left to right. Note the classical architectural setting, but above all the frightened figures in the background, who introduce the scene and allow the viewer of the drawing to put themselves in their place to watch this extraordinary scene. We then follow the scene itself, with the vehement intervention of the three angels and the reaction of Abraham, who submits and bows with a beautiful gesture of the hand in his beard. On the right is Sarah, who leaves in disbelief, and above all the detail of the shrub in a pot decorated with a smiling putto or angel. The famous smile.

François Boitard was born in Toulouse in 1670 (or 1667 acording other sources). According to Pierre-Jean Mariette and the merchant and expert Charles Le Blanc (1817-1865) he was a pupil of the designer and engraver Raymond Lafage during the latter's last stay in Toulouse (1683).
He left for Rome around 1685-1690, there he produced a number of "obscene drawings", Le Blanc specifies that he also produced engravings, but we don't keep track of them.
Boitard moved to London around 1709, where he possibly worked as an agent for a collector, then he moved again to Amsterdam where he could have had his drawings printed in engravings. In London, Arnold Houbraken , who names him "Bauttard", testifies to having seen him draw in taverns, impressing the public by composing in two hours maritime scenes on a sheet of paper.
The dates and places of his death there also vary according to the sources: 1715 or 1719, either in Amsterdam or in The Hague .
He had a son, Louis-Philippe Boitard , active between 1733 and 1770 between London and Paris, who mainly produced engravings . Her son and Joseph Aved remain his main pupils.

Bibliography
Mariette Abecedario, I p.145