François Boucher

Charles-François, Marquis de Calvière, his mount and possibly his inscription, lower right: L Carrache

Laid down on original mount. Overall in good condition. Light scattered foxing, and some surface dirt. The medium remains fresh.
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Alastair Laing, who has seen the original and confirmed the attribution to Boucher, has suggested that this is a copy after an Italian drawing, rather than a painting, possibly by a later artist than Lodovico Carracci.  Jean-François Méjanès has shown that after his return from Italy in 1731, Boucher seems to have pursued his interest in Italian art by making copies after drawings in the collects ion of Pierre Crozat.  He has found such copies after Carlo Maratta, Luigi Garzi, Niccolò Berrettoni and Giuseppe Passeri.¹  It is interesting to see how through his use of pen and wash, and his recognizable facial types, Boucher has delicately transformed the character of the earlier artist's work.  Alastair Laing has also noted a copy Boucher made of a Lodovico Carracci drawing which was in his own collects ion.²

The characteristic mount on the present drawing is that of the very distinguished French collects or, Charles-François, Marquis de Calvière (1693-1777).  The attribution L Carrache, written on the drawing, is not necessarily in his hand, as he generally wrote his attribution and inscription on the mount, which in this case has been partly cut.  Jean-François Méjanès was the first to identify and publish the characteristics which identify this provenance, as the Marquis did not have a collects or's mark.³  He formed the majority of his collects ion between 1741 and 1777 and he attended the major drawings sales of his t.mes such as those of Crozat, Mariette, Coypel and Gersaint.  His posthumous sale took place anonymously in Paris, 5-20 May 1779.

1.  F. Joulie and J.-F. Méjanès, François Boucher, hier et aujourd'hui, exhib. cat., Paris, Louvre, 2003-4, pp. 112-116, and p. 38, fig. 1

2.  A. Laing in 'The Ford collects ion, II,' The Sixtieth Volume of the Walpole Society, 1998, pp. 179-80, no. RBF159

3.  J..-F. Méjanès, Les collects ions du Comte d'Orsay: dessins du Musée du Louvre, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1983, pp. 89-90; see also sale, Paris, Christie's, 17 December 2003, Dessins Anciens de l'Ancienne collects ion du Marquis de Calvière