Charles de la Fosse

pen and brown ink over black and red chalk, squared for transfer in red chalk (recto);

red and black chalk (verso)

Emile Wolf, New York,
Thence by descent to the present owners.

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Ottawa, Galerie nationale du Canada; New York, The New York Cultural Centre, 'French Master Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries in North American Collections', 1972, pp. 52, pl. 56, 169-170, no. 68 (entry by P. Rosenberg);
Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts; Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum, 'Louis XIII - Louis XVI:  French Drawings from a Private Collection', 1980, no. 12;
Tampa Museum, 'Louis XIII - Louis XVI:  French Drawings from a Private Collection', 1982.

P. Vercier, "Trois dessins de Charles de La Fosse pour la Chapelle du Château de Versailles", 'Versalia', 2000, no. 3, p. 131;
C. Gustin-Gomez, 'Charles de la Fosse 1636-1716', Dijon 2006, vol. II, p. 198, no. D. 50, reproduced.

Hinge mounted to a modern mount. There are two old diagonal creases running down the sheet and an old horizontal crease to the upper section of the sheet and creases to the lower left and right corners. The sheet has discoloured somewhat, however inspite of some slight rubbing the medium remains predominantly strong. Sold in a giltwood frame.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

This sheet had long been incorrectly attributed to Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau before Pierre Rosenberg correctly identified it, in the 1972 exhibition catalogue, as a study for La Fosse’s painting of 'Susannah and the Elders' in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow.

The painting shows the influence of Rembrandt on La Fosse, who at this late stage in his career would have had the opportunity to study pictures by the Dutchman, from the collection of the art patron and connoisseur, Pierre Crozat, in whose house La Fosse lived for the last eight years of his life.