Jean-baptiste Leprince (1734–1781) Love In The Spanish Style - Expertise By Francois Marandet

Jean-Baptiste Leprince (Metz 1734–1781 Saint-Denis-du-Port) Love in the Spanish Style Oil on canvas (lined) 77 cm x 60 cm (image dimensions) Provenance: Collection of the Marquis de Livois (1736–1790) Augustin de Saint-Aubin (Paris 1736–1807 Paris) and Noël Pruneau (born 1751) immortalized the painting offered here in a copper engraving. Another version was sold at auction at Sotheby's in Paris on November 9, 2012, lot 316, for €240,000 and is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers. Expertise: François Marandet, London, December 1, 2025. François Marandet writes, in particular: "It is necessary to analyze the relationship between our painting and the example in the museum." d'Angers (acquired after its sale at Sotheby's in 2012). Given the similarity between the artist's name, the subject, and the dimensions, it was assumed that this painting came from the collection of the Marquis de Livois (1736–1790). The museum's acquisition of this painting by Leprince was all the more significant because of its provenance, as the Livois bequest forms the core of the Angers museum. Despite its signature and date, which correspond to the year of its exhibition (see our provenance), the Livois painting could well be our version. Furthermore, it is logical to assume that the more important of the two versions was the engraving. However, the engraving by Saint-Aubin and Pruneau (ill. 3) presents a number of details that are found in our painting but not in the Angers museum version. The musician's elbow and the chair are fully visible in both the engraving and our version. In the Angers painting, however, these elements are cropped. Similarly, the engraving shows a four-arched canopy, just like our painting. In the Angers version, the canopy has only three arches. Finally, the most striking difference between the two paintings is the canopy with its gilded fringe. While the canopy is clearly visible in our version and in the engraving, it has almost disappeared in the Angers version. Everything suggests that our painting is the original and that it therefore belonged to one of the Laborde brothers: either to the banker Jean-Joseph de Laborde, Marquis de Méréville, known for having supported Hubert Robert, or to his younger brother, the businessman Jean-Benjamin de Laborde. Besides its high technical quality, its reproduction in the press, and its prestigious provenance from the Laborde family, Leprince's *Love in the Spanish Style* is certainly one of the finest genre scenes from the end of Louis XV's reign. François Marandet, December 1, 2025. Inv. no. 4.30285 €000