Preparatory Drawing By Charles De La Fosse

Charle de LA FOSSE (1636-1716) "Study of a man in a three-quarter-face bust" Sanguine and black chalk on blue paper, Circa 1703-1704- 0.150 x 0.105 Provenance: Toulouse Collection. This pretty little study is preparatory for one of the figures represented in the painted sketch "Saint-Marc et Saint-Pierre", one of the four sketches for the four pendants of the Evangelists of the dome of the church of Les Invalides, painted in fresco (sketches kept at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris under the N ° Inv. 2016 to 2019) Commissioned by the Crown, and according to the Accounts of the King's Buildings, La Fosse worked on the site of the dome of the Invalides church between 1702 and 1706. The restoration of the pendants revealed many changes and variations in the compositions and the choice of secondary figures compared to the painted sketches. This is the case for "Saint-Marc and Saint-Pierre" in particular at the level of the two figures on the left, not included in the final fresco. It is for one of these two figures that our drawing is preparatory, and the dating of the years 1703-1704 (according to the payments made to the artist for the dome and the pendants) seems appropriate to target chronologically the execution of this drawing. . Attribution confirmed by Ms. C. Gustin, specialist of the artist.