Lot 353: Charles Le Brun (Paris 1619-1690)

Charles Le Brun (Paris 1619-1690)
A river god
with inscription 'LeBrun'
red and white chalk, squared in black chalk, on two joined sheets, watermark bunch of grapes and A*M
13 x 22 inches (32.9 x 56.2 cm.)

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Datable to the 1670s and probably related to an ambitious series of 52 designs which Le Brun executed for the château and pavilions at Marly. This estate was purchased by King Louis XIV in 1676 and building work began three years later, with twelve temporary pavilions constructed along the avenue that led to the entrance of the château. The pediments of these pavilions, as well as those of the main house, were to be decorated with paintings imitating relief sculpture. The present drawing relates to the Pavillion de l'Abondance, on which one pediment included the figure of the river god Oceanus, whose pose is remarkably similar to that in the present drawing, apart from the position of his legs. The Château de Marly was destroyed in the 18th Century, but the appearance of twelve of the pediments is recorded through a series of engravings by Louis de Chatillon (Divers desseins de decorations de pavillions inventez par Monsieur Le Brun, Paris, n.d., BN Da39a fol.). Fortuitously the Oceanus facade is one of these and provides a record of the completed work, probably undertaken by Le Brun's pupils using the master's preparatory drawings.