FRENCH SCHOOL, 18TH CENTURY | PUTTI PLAYING WITH A GOAT

Private collection, France.

The present composition is based on a marble bas-relief from circa 1626 by François Duquesnoy executed for the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome.¹ The subject is possibly inspired by a Greek epigram, and was also certainly inspired by Roman sarcophagi.

The present work is a painted reproduction en grisaille, a technique which limits the palette to monochrome grey, making it particularly fit to imitate sculpture. The mask held by the putto on the left can be interpreted as a reference to the deception of painting, which triumphs over sculpture in creating the illusion of reality. 

This charming and lively image was clearly very popular, as many copies and casts circulated in European studios, and continued to be copied well into the 18th century. One of the better-known copies is that of the Leiden artist Gerrit Dou, who incorporated the relief into his self-portrait, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 14.40.607).² Piat Joseph Sauvage, who was particularly renowned for his trompe-l'œil grisaille copies from sculpture, also painted several versions of this work, including one which sold at Sotheby's, New York, 24 January 2002, lot 58.

¹ M. Boudon-Machuel, François du Quesnoy, 1597-1643, Paris 2005, p. 277, cat. no. Œ64b, reproduced fig. 34.

² https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436210