Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855) - Lot 319

Lot n° 319
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20000 - 30000 EUR
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Result : 104 000EUR
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855) - Lot 319
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767-1855) and Charles Percier (1764-1838) or Auguste Garneray (1784-1824) Design for the coronation book of Emperor Napoleon I, Le Grand Officier de la couronne. Ink and wash on paper. Coaster. Gilded frame with palmettes. H_47.5 cm W_31 cm Annotated Isabey and Percier by the same hand. Provenance : -Talleyrand-Périgord family, then by descent -Count and Countess Charles-André Colonna Walewski Collection Bibliography : -Graesse, trésor de livres rares et précieux, Tome VI partie 1, p.209, Rudolf Kunze, Dresden, 1859 -Jean-Pierre Samoyau, Château de Fontainebleau Musée Napoléon Ier, Napoléon et la famille impériale 1804-1815, p.128-130, Rmn Paris, 1986 Our exceptional drawing is part of the genesis of one of the Empire's most ambitious artistic projects. Intended by Napoleon I to equal in splendor the precedents of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI, the Livre du Sacre was a summit of the arts of the Empire, which, ironically, would not be completed until after its fall. Entrusted to the direction of Jean-Baptiste Isabey, the book involved no less than seventeen engravers and four draftsmen. While it is generally accepted that Isabey was responsible for the figures, Percier for the scenery and Fontaine for the architecture, as indicated in the book, there are a number of factors that suggest that this is not the case. In fact, on early engravings, as well as on original drawings accompanying the Emperor's personal copy, the signature is that of Auguste Garneray. A highly talented pupil of Isabey, he was also Hortense de Beauharnais' drawing teacher, and was ideally suited to assist his master in his titanic task. It is therefore interesting to note that his signature can be found on the drawing corresponding to ours, preserved in the Château de Fontainebleau with the date 1811. It is therefore possible that Garneray produced some of the preparatory drawings that were eventually signed by Percier in the final work. The identity of the figure in the plate of the grand officer we are presenting is commonly assumed to be that of the grand master of ceremonies Louis-Philippe de Ségur. However, at the previous sale of this drawing, the Talleyrand provenance combined with the close relationship between Isabey and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord tipped the attribution of our drawing as a portrait of Talleyrand. Indeed, the Prince of Talleyrand was a loyal patron of the artist, going so far as to ask him to accompany him to the Congress of Vienna in 1814, where France's interests were at stake. The artist, who had carried out one of the most ambitious projects for the Emperor's coronation, drew the representatives of France's enemies sharing the remains of a not-quite-dead Empire. We can see that the watercolor in the Château de Fontainebleau clearly depicts another grand officer, perhaps Caulaincourt, and we can therefore imagine that the designers depicted several versions of the plate intended for the five grand officers, ours being that of Louis Philippe de Ségur, Grand Master of the Emperor's ceremonies and in charge of organizing the coronation. In fact, his figure was chosen for the final work, making ours the only preparatory drawing for the final engraving. While the coronation book itself is extremely rare, the original drawings used to create it are virtually non-existent on the market, apart from those of the Emperor, preserved by his nephew Napoleon III in Fontainebleau. Related works : Jean-Baptiste Isabey and Auguste Garneray, 1811, drawing for the Grand Officer of the Crown, the Comte de Ségur. Château de Fontainebleau Collection, inv. GM Bibl. 3502 Temporary importation The buyer will be required to pay import duties, i.e. 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the item is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union.
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