FRENCH SCHOOL, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY | An allegorical composition: Justice slaying slander

Galerie Fischer, 1976 ; 
Acquis par échange.

Rennes, 2012, n°42 (notice par Bénédicte Gady) ;
Sceaux, 2013 (sans catalogue)

Laid down on an old card backing. The sheet has very fractionally discoloured and there is evidence of light foxing and surface dirt throughout. There is a small brown stain to the groin of the right hand figure. The black chalk medium remains very fresh throughout this impressive sheet, with the image strong. Sold unframed.
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This intriguing black chalk drawing, executed with vigour and imbued with quality, is a fascinating preliminary study for the left half of a painting, now housed in the National Museum, Warsaw, depicting The Triumph of Justice (Fig.1). The subject depicted in the Adrien sheet is described in the 2012 Rennes catalogue as Loyalty slaying Calumny,¹ whilst Warsaw describe their painting as The Triumph of Justice. Both compositions clearly portray a dominant female allegory unmasking Calumny, who in keeping with Cesare Ripa’s description of this malicious figure, is portrayed grabbing at the hair of a young child.² The artist has clearly adapted the pose of the dominant female allegory between the Adrien drawing and the Warsaw painting, focusing in particular on the positioning of her right arm, raised in readiness to strike the kneeling Calumny. The figure of Calumny also shows differences between the preparatory drawing and the final painting, most notably the addition in the Warsaw painting of a fiery torch, symbolic of the threat that Calumny poses to the world, an attribute that is notably absent from the Adrien sheet.

Whilst both the painting and drawing have historically been attributed to Charles Le Brun, most probably due in part to their allegorical subject matters, the attribution of the Adrien drawing to Le Brun was dismissed by both Bénédicte Gady in the 2012 Rennes exhibition, as well as Jennifer Montagu,³ and both works are currently attributed to an Anonymous French artist, active in the 17^th Century.

Whilst a sustainable attribution for the present drawing has thus far been unforthcoming, we are grateful to Dr. Iwona Danielewicz at the National Museum, Warsaw, who has tentatively suggested an attribution to Eustache Le Sueur for the Warsaw painting.

^1. Op. cit., Rennes, 2012, p. 125

^2. J. Baudoin, Iconologie ou les principales choses qui peuvent tomber dans la pensée touchant les Vices et les Vertus, sont représentées soubs diverses figures, gravées en cuivre par Jacques de Bie, et moralement explicquées par J. Baudoin, Paris 1644, vol. II, p. 149

^3. Op. cit., Rennes, 2012, p. 125