Lot 647: CHARLES DE WAILLY

CHARLES DE WAILLY PARIS 1730 - 1798 AN ARCHITECTURAL CAPRICCIO: A GENERAL SEATED UNDER AN APSE, A SOLOMONIC COLUMN IN THE FOREGROUND Pen and black ink, and two shades of brown wash, over black chalk, with touches of white heightening; signed and dated in pen and black ink: De Wailly. f. Ro.1756 19 1/8 x 14 3/8 inches 485 by 365 mm; 19 1/8 by 14 3/8 in

Paris, Hôtel de Sully, Charles de Wailly, 1979, p. 115, no. 48, reproduced p. 34

M. Roland Michel, Le Dessin Français au XVIIIe siècle, Fribourg 1987, p. 143, fig. 156; p. 144

Ian Woodner,
his sale, London, Christie's, 2 July 1991, lot 160;
sale, London, Christie's, 1 July 1997, lot 143, to the present owner

In this very flamboyant and impressive drawing, with its da sotto in su perspective, de Wailly was inspired by Bernini's columns supporting the baldacchino in St Peter's which he used to add to the vertiginous effect of his composition.

Charles de Wailly was a pre-eminent and influential architect and designer. He trained in Paris with Legeay and Blondel and then went to study in Italy from 1754 to 1757. In Rome he was part of the lively international community of artists which included Piranesi, Hubert Robert and Robert Adam. His interest in Roman antiquity as well as in more recent monuments had a profound effect on his work. He particularly admired Bernini, as is evident in the present drawing. On his return to France, he established a successful career, patronized by the Marquis de Marigny and other nobles, receiving both private and public commissions, including the new theater for the Comédie-Française. His dramatic vedute drawings were popular with collectors and it seems likely that this example was such a work.