Beschreibung:

Details
THÉODORE GERICAULT (ROUEN 1791-1824 PARIS)
Léda et le cygne
plume et encre brune
6,6 x 14,8 cm (2 3/4 x 5 3/4 in.)
Post lot text
THÉODORE GERICAULT, LEDA AND THE SWAN, PEN AND BROWN INK
The ‘Suite of Leda’, as Germain Bazin calls it (Théodore Gericault. Étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, IV, Paris, 1990, p. 24), is one of the most representative cycles of works from Gericault’s time in Rome. While the artist had probably seen the painting of princess visited by Jupiter in the guise of a swan after Michelangelo during his trip to London in 1821 (National Gallery, London, inv. NG1868), it was in Italy, between 1816 and 1817, that he was more profoundly affected by the great Italian’s art (G. Bazin, op. cit., p. 25). Gericault probably studied the composition in the engravings by Cornelis Bos or Étienne Delaune. Numerous sketches and finished drawings testify to his interest in the subject, such as the four Studies at the Beaux-Arts de Paris (inv. 956; see G. Bazin, op. cit., nos. 1233-1236, ill.; and E. Brugerolles, Gericault. Dessins et estampes des collections de l'École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1997, nos. D65-68, ill.), and Leda and the Swan (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, inv. 740N; see G. Bazin, op. cit., no. 1231, ill.). He brings out the modelling of the figures by a system of rectilinear or curvilinear hatching.
Gericault’s drawings led to several coloured works, including a gouache in the Louvre (inv. RF833; see G. Bazin, op. cit., no. 1232, ill.).
We thank Philippe Grunchec for confirming the attribution after visual examination.