Charles LeBrun
1619-1690
Acquisition of Dunkerque
ca. 1678-84
9 3/4 x 13 inches (246 x 330 mm)
Black ink wash over black chalk on laid paper.
III, 86a
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Watermark: none visible through mount.
Le Brun's vast campaign to decorate Versailles and simultaneously glorify the king and his exploits required tremendous pictorial inventiveness. The project, lasting from 1679 to 1684, elevated his status to the most celebrated French painter of his era. The vault of the Grande Galerie was adorned with a painted ceiling divided into multiple panels, including one devoted to Louis XIV's acquisition from the British in 1662 of the coastal city of Dunkerque. France, personified by the seated female warrior, accepts the keys from the kneeling young woman representing the city and shows her the wealth and abundance that would come to Dunkerque as a part of the French state. -- Exhibition Label, From "Poussin, Claude, and French Drawing in the Classical Age"
Le Brun's vast campaign to decorate Versailles and simultaneously glorify the king and his exploits required tremendous pictorial inventiveness. The project, lasting from 1679 to 1684, elevated his status to the most celebrated French painter of his era. The vault of the Grande Galerie was adorned with a painted ceiling divided into multiple panels, including one devoted to Louis XIV's acquisition from the British in 1662 of the coastal city of Dunkerque. France, personified by the seated female warrior, accepts the keys from the kneeling young woman representing the city and shows her the wealth and abundance that would come to Dunkerque as a part of the French state. -- Exhibition Label, From "Poussin, Claude, and French Drawing in the Classical Age"
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed along lower edge at center, in pen and black ink, "Acquisition de Dunkerque"; at right, in a different hand, "C Le Bruyn".
Associated names
Greville, Charles, 1762-1832, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 28.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 30, repr.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 30, repr.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department