Théodore Chassériau. Banquo's Ghost. Preparatory Drawing On A Photo, [circa 1854].

Black pencil drawing on photographic print (salted paper). 29 x 37 cm, in a modern frame of 44 x 53 cm. Handwritten note at the bottom: "Le Spectre de Banco, photo of the unfinished painting and retouched by Chassériau (see page 486)". Sun-faded print. Missing upper left corner. This drawing on a photographic print is a rare example of the use of photography as a working medium in the creation of a painting. The artist used this print of a shot of his painting in progress as a support for reflection, making modifications in pencil and the future developments in his work. We also see a color indication ("= light red") written in the center of the image. Le Spectre de Banquo is a painting by Théodore Chassériau kept at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Reims (inv. 949.1.9). It illustrates a passage from Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The painting, signed and dated 1854, was rejected at the 1855 Salon. It measures 53.8 x 65.3 cm (dimensions excluding frame). Ref. A13-97