Suzanne And The Elders - France Late 18th Century, Black Chalk On Paper

French school of the second half of the 18th century
Circle of Gabriel François Doyen (1726-1806)
Suzanne and the Elders
19.8 x 15.3 cm
black chalk, stump, heightened with white chalk
framing lines in black chalk
annotation lower right, difficult to decipher

Good condition overall - a tear in the paper surface, with no loss of material (see photo)

Framed with care, under glass
Dimensions with frame: 34 x 26.5 cm

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A drawing which yet remains anonymous, but certainly made by a fine and sure hand, as it is handled with great mastery as much in the nuances of black chalk on blue paper as in the contrasts of the highlights in white chalk. With Antoon van Dyck's 1621 painting Suzanne and the elders (Alte Pinakothek, Munich) as the main source of inspiration, our artist has taken this Old Testament subject and made it his own, using drawing techniques that place him firmly in the French artistic movement of the second half of the 18th and maybe even the early 19th century.

This subject has often been tackled and questioned by artists over the centuries. In this composition, Suzanne is shown in a fleeing movement that makes her active, and thus moves her away from the perhaps more traditional representation of a woman who is being spied on, besieged and powerless.

The style of our drawing is noticeably closer to that explored by some very good French 18th-century draftsmen, notably Gabriel François Doyen, Jean Charles Frontier (see photos), or even, more in the neo-classical aesthetic, Lancrenon, Girodet and Prud'hon.

What appears to be a signature in the lower right-hand corner of our sheet has not yet been deciphered - perhaps an apocryphal note, which would like to give the drawing to one of the "st aubin" brothers. There are still many elements to be researched and questioned with this drawing, which is why it is both a remarkable work, for its mastery, energy and elegance, and a stimulating object for curiosity and art-historical research. Several specialists in the field of the history of French drawing have been consulted about this drawing, and have always responded enthusiastically: we can discuss it through messages, if you wish.

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