Hubert François Gravelot
1699-1773
Scene of Sorcery
ca. 1770
7 x 5 1/8 inches (177 x 130 mm)
Pen and black ink, with touches of black and white chalk, on paper; lightly incised with the stylus.
1968.15:40
Gift of John F. Fleming.
Notes
Gravelot's design is preparatory for an engraved frontispiece to the “Satyrae” in a 1770 English edition of Horace's works (“Opera of Horace”, Birmingham : John Baskerville, 1770; p. 187). The sketch illustrates a scene from Book I, 8th Satire, verses 23-50, in which the witches Canidia and Sagana summon the spirits of the dead by pouring the blood of a black lamb into a trench in front of a statue of Priapus. The figure of Priapus is shown holding a scythe, and two small additional figures kneel in an attitude of prayer at right.
Associated names
Fourquevaux, Joseph de Beccarie de Pavie, marquis de, 1762-1841, former owner.
Bocher, Emmanuel, 1835-1919, former owner.
Olry-Roederer, Léon, 1869-1932, former owner.
Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952, former owner.
Fleming, John F. (John Francis), 1910-1987, former owner.
Bocher, Emmanuel, 1835-1919, former owner.
Olry-Roederer, Léon, 1869-1932, former owner.
Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952, former owner.
Fleming, John F. (John Francis), 1910-1987, former owner.
Bibliography
Kraemer, Ruth S. "Drawings by Gravelot in the Morgan Library." Master drawings, XX (Spring 1982), p. 12, no. 38; reproduced plate 12.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
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