THOMAS BLANCHET | The Visitation

Vente anonyme, Londres, Sotheby's, 18 avril 1994, n°169 : « attribué à Nicolas Loir »

Rennes, 2012, n°39 (notice par Aude Henry-Gobet);
Sceaux, 2013 (sans catalogue)

Hinge mounted to a modern mount, the old backing from the 1994 sale no longer accompanies the drawing. There is a small nick to the lower left corner and some very minor surface dirt throughout. The red chalk medium remains fresh throughout and there are some very faint traces of white chalk heightening still visible to areas of drapery. The drawing remains in predominantly good condition throughout with the image strong. Sold unframed.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This drawing, depicting The Visitation between the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, was unknown to Lucie Galactéros-de Boissier when she published her comprehensive tome on Blanchet in 1991,¹ appearing at auction in London only in 1994, as Attributed to Nicolas Loir (see Provenance). The composition, as pointed out by Aude Henry-Gobet in the 2012 Rennes catalogue, corresponds precisely with what appears to be a more preliminary drawing,² executed predominantly in pen and brown ink, in the collection of the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. The Stockholm drawing is fractionally smaller than the present work, but more importantly contains some very light underdrawing in red chalk, which alongside the pentimento visible around the Virgin’s hat in the same sheet, would suggest that the Adrien drawing was created somewhat later in Blanchet’s creative process. Another fascinating connection identified by Lucie Galactéros-de Boissier is the close correspondence between the central figures of The Virgin and Elizabeth, in both the Stockholm and Adrien drawings, and the two female allegories representing France and Rome, depicted in Blanchet’s Réconciliation de la France et de Rome, a decorative project created circa 1664, for which a preparatory drawing is in the collection of the Musée du Louvre, Paris (fig. 1).³

In her entry for the Stockholm drawing,⁴ Galactéros-de Boissier suggests a broad dating of circa 1675 to 1689, when Blanchet was known to be executing paintings in Lyon, depicting the lives of Christ and The Virgin, to both of which the present composition and subject matter could be seen to relate. Aude Henry-Gobet similarly agrees that a dating to Blanchet’s period in Lyon seems most convincing; however she proposes a slightly earlier dating to that suggested by Galactéros-de Boissier, offering Blanchet’s commissions at the Church of Notre-Dame de la Platière (where the artist was married in 1672) and the Chapelle de la Trinité (where he painted twelve paintings of The Life of the Virgin, which were inserted in to the panelling of the nave in 1673), as possible termini post quem for the present sheet.

^1. L. Galactéros-de Boissier, Thomas Blanchet (1614-1689), Paris 1991

^2. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, inv. no. NM CC VI: 69.; Ibid., p. 425, no. D63, fig. 334, reproduced

^3. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 23786

^4. Galactéros-de Boissier, op.cit., p. 425, no. D63