French school of the end of the 18th century.... - Lot 64 - Osenat

Lot 64
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10000 - 15000 EUR
French school of the end of the 18th century.... - Lot 64 - Osenat
French school of the end of the 18th century. Portrait of Michel Louis MELAN, architect of King Louis XVI, assassinated on August 10, 1792 on the new bridge Oil on oval canvas (rentoilé). 61 x 50 cm. Gilded wooden frame. Remains of old historical labels handwritten in ink. B.E. Provenance: - From the former collections of the Countess de Palikao - Collection Norbert de Beaulieu Exhibition: Château de Madame de Graffigny, Gomien and the Lorrainian portraitists "Une autre école de Nancy", Villiers-les-Nancy, 18 October - 12 November 2008. History: Our man is wearing a red habit, embroidered with gold, which can be compared to two other portraits of the King's architects, that of Gabriel and that of Ledoux, by Drolling (circa 1785, kept at the Musée Carnavalet). This garment, of which our man was rightly proud, was also, during the troubled times of the French Revolution, the cause of his death. Indeed, during the massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries on August 10, 1792, Melan, "in red dress" embroidered with gold by the King's architect, was, according to the testimonies of the time, confused with a Swiss and massacred (on the Pont Neuf according to some witnesses, in the section of the "Social Contract" towards the church of Saint Eustache according to others). Our painting sheds a more technical light on this episode: indeed, it helps to understand why he was confused with the Swiss Guards. Biography: Michel Louis Melan (1752-1792) Architect and expert of the King, we owe him the summer Vauxhall of the rue de Bondy (with the decorator Moench) and the drawings of the "Chinese Redoubt" in the Saint Laurent fairgrounds, an exotic garden with a set of rings, a pagoda and an oriental escarpolette which opened on 28th June 1781. Bibliography: - "Le Livre noir de la Révolution Française" under the direction of Renaud Escande, chapter III, p.62 - Jean Gabriel Peltier, "Récit historique de la Révolution du 10 août 1792", chez l'auteur, London, 17
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