Lot 89: François-Xavier Fabre (Montpellier 1766-1837)

Achimelech with the bodies of his sons
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash
7 1/4 a 9 3/16 in. (185 x 234 mm.)

Two unidentified geometric collector's marks.
An unidentified collector's mark, 'GF'.

A study for Saul crazed by his remorse, one of Fabre's most celebrated history paintings, commissioned by the poet Count Vittorio Alfieri and his mistress the Countess of Albany.
Finished in 1803, just before Alfieri's death in October of that year, the painting was bequeathed by the Countess of Albany to Fabre and is now in Montpellier, Musée Frabre (French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, exhib. cat., Paris, Detroit, New York, 1974-75, no. 56). Alfieri had published his tragedy, Saul, in 1784, freely inspired by the First Book of Samuel in the Bible. Fabre chose to represent a scene taken from the last act where Saul is haunted by dreadful visions of Samuel and Achimelech as his daughter Micol, David's wife, predicts that he will soon die by his own hand.
The present drawing is an early study for the group of Achimelech at the right of the painting. Achimelech, a priest whom Saul put to death along with his children for having helped his rival David, appears on clouds holding the body of one of his sons and points accusingly towards Saul.
Two other preparatory drawings for the composition are in Montpellier (Le Néo-Classicisme Français. Dessins des Musées de Province, exhib. cat., Paris, Grand Palais, 1974-75, nos. 40-1). These along with this new addition to Fabre's graphic oeuvre, express more of the romantic character of the scene than the painting.
Laure Pellicier has kindly confirmed the attribution.