Workshop of Eustache LE SUEUR (Paris 1616... - Lot 5 - Kâ-Mondo

Workshop of Eustache LE SUEUR (Paris 1616 1655). The Flagellation of Saint Gervais and the Beheading of Saint Protais. Pen and black ink on black pencil line, grey and bistre washes, tiled with black pencil. 62×86 cm. Glued on old mounts. Piece mounted on the lower right-hand side of the paving of the martyrdom of Saint Protais. Vertical fold in the centre having been partially torn, a small 0.5 cm gap on the upper edge, a few freckles. For the flagellation of Saint Gervais, vertical and horizontal folds in the centre having been partially torn, spots and skin marks, freckles. Provenance: Ancienne collection Mariette; sa vente, Paris, 15 November 1775-30 January 1776, part of lot 1371. The lot consisted of four drawings and was divided in two at the sale: one part comprising two drawings was purchased by Alexandre-Joseph Paillet (1743-1814), the other two were acquired by Charles-Philippe Campion, abbot of Tersan (1736-1819). The two other drawings of lot 1371 are kept in the Louvre and the Albertina (see Pierre Rosenberg, opus cited below, pp.877-878, nos.2335 and 2336, sketches by Saint-Aubin reproduced). Undoubtedly sale Vassal de Saint-Hubert, Paris, March 29, 1779, No. 84, "in black and white pencil, height 1 foot 10 inches 6 lines, width 2 feet 8 inches" (i.e. 60.7×86.4 cm) Undoubtedly sale Le Brun, Paris, April 11, 1791, n°288, "these two capital drawings are preciously finished in bistre on white paper. H 26 inches; W 36 inches" ( i.e. 70.2×97.2 cm) Perhaps then François Guillaume Ménageot, mentioned in the inventory after his death in 1816. William-Anne Lestevenon (1750-1830), according to the Lagoy inventory. Collection of the Marquis de Lagoy, drawings listed under numbers 294 and 295 of his bound manuscript inventory; remained with the descendants. Collection of the Marquis de Lagoy, by descendants. Bibliography: Alain Mérot, Eustache Le Sueur, Paris, éditions Arthéna, 2000 (first edition 1987), under numbers 148-149, pp. 284-285. Pierre Rosenberg, Les dessins de la collection Mariette, école française, ed Mondadori Electa, Milan, 2011, volume II, n° F2333, p.876, sketches by Saint-Aubin reproduced. Related works: Stained glass windows in grisaille on drawings by Le Sueur pour Saint-Gervais, disappeared; Engraving of La flagellation de saint Gervais by Étienne Picart dit le Romain in 1687; Engraving of La décollation de saint Protais by Gérard Audran around 1690. The two cartoons for the series of tapestries unfinished at the death of Le Sueur, Saint Gervais and Saint Protais led before Astasius refuse to sacrifice to idols (Paris, Musée du Louvre, Mérot n°165), La flagellation de saint Gervais (Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mérot n°166), the latter traditionally attributed to Thomas Goussé, brother-in-law of Le Sueur. The decoration of the chapel Le Roux, in the church Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais, was commissioned from Le Sueur around 1651. It included an altar painting, The Deposition of Christ (Louvre, Mérot n°146), an altar facing, The Carrying of the Cross (Louvre, Mérot n°147), and a double stained glass window with several subjects painted in grisaille (disappeared), including The Scourging of Saint Gervais and The Taking Off of Saint Protais, plus a Flight to Egypt and two arabesque subjects. According to the description of the drawings in the old sales, Mr. Alain Mérot assumed at the time of the publication of his monograph in 1987 (reedition of 2000) that they may have been the modelli supplied to the master glassmaker Jean Perrin. In 1793, the stained-glass windows were dismantled from their location in Saint-Gervais, seized by a revolutionary commission and deposited in the Musée des Monuments Français. They were listed by Lenoir in 1794. In 1817, the stained-glass windows were returned to the Church and the whole (there is a third stained-glass window depicting a Flight to Egypt) was reconstituted in the Saint Pierre Chapel or the Saint Louis Chapel in Saint-Gervais. In 1914, the stained-glass window is removed again and disappears. This decoration was followed by a second commission given to the painter by the church's marguilliers on 24 March 1652, which was to include a suite of six tapestries and their cartoons. When Le Sueur died in 1655, only the first cartoon had been completed, the second was in progress. The suite was entrusted to Philippe de Champaigne for three of the compositions and Bourdon for The Martyrdom of Saint Protais. We would like to thank Mrs Béatrice de Moustier who kindly provided us with information on the provenance.