Jacques Gamelin

Estimate

5,000 - 6,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

Jacques Gamelin
the embarkation of louis IX from aigues-mortes
Pen and black ink and gray, pink and brown wash over traces of black chalk;
signed lower left in pen and gray ink: Gamelin an g. fecit, and inscribed: Embarquement de St. Louis a aigues-mortes le 25 aoust 1248. Hist. de france, T. IV. p. 392. par l' abbé Velly.

Condition

The drawing is sold mounted and framed in a wooden gilded 19th Century French frame. The sheet has a drawn mount. The two vertical strips of the drawn mount after the first line in grey ink, right and left, and appear to have been added later. The drawing is in good condition, little minor foxing visible from the verso. Some dirt and little staining around the edges of the drawn mount.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Gamelin is known to have received a commission from the religious confraternity of the Penitents Bleus of Narbonne for a series of canvases depicting the life of St Louis, which he completed in 1789. Three other drawings by the artist with the same subject as this are known: two are very different from the present composition¹, but the third, rather smaller sheet, formerly on the Paris art market, is much closer.²A companion drawing, of similar dimensions, representing Louis IX at the Battle of Damietta, was with Colnaghi in 1991 and is now in a French private collection.³

The subject depicted is from the life of King Louis IX, later St. Louis (1214-1270). After recovering from a serious illness, Louis decided to embark on a Holy Crusade, and in 1248 sailed from the port of Aigues-Mortes with his army.

1. Photographs at the Witt Library, as whereabouts unknown, but probably the same as the two drawings of this subject, both dated 1788, listed as being at the Musée Fabre, Montpellier and in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Narbonne (see Le Néo-Classicisme français: Dessins des Musées de Province, exhib. cat. Paris, Grand Palais, 1974-75, p. 148).
2. Paris, Paul Prouté, Catalogue 'Primatice', 1986, no. 29
3. New York and London, Colnaghi, Master Drawings, 1991, no. 48, reproduced