Lot 635: Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin (Paris 1724-1780)

Portrait of King Louis XVI as Dauphin black chalk and black lead, watermark fleur-de-lys and M 279 x 217 mm. PROVENANCE A. Beurdeley (L. 421); Paris, 13-15 March 1905, lot 223, as a portrait of Madame de Choiseul (555 fr. to Lemoine). Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 April 1978, lot 143 (to Dreesmann). Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. B-59). LITERATURE E. Dacier, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, peintre, dessinateur et graveur (1724-1780), II, Paris, 1931, no. 265 (as a 'Portrait de Femme'). EXHIBITION Paris, Exposition de la Ville de Paris, 1900. NOTES The sitter of this portrait has traditionally been identified as Queen Marie-Antoinette or the duchesse de Choiseul. However, Alastair Laing, in a letter dated 12 January 2002, has pointed out that the attributes and symbols more closely relate to the Dauphin, later King Louis XVI. Mr Laing notes that this image of the Dauphin dressed in riding attire, his hair held in a catogan, is an early study for the drawing formerly in the Goncourt Collection, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 212, and E. Launay, Les frŠres Goncourt collectionneurs de dessins, Paris, 1991, no. 291, fig. 50. Mr Laing suggests a date of 1770 for the project, by deduction from the medal of King Louis IX, since that year was the 500th Anniversary of the Saint-King's death. It was also the year that the sixteen-year-old Dauphin married Marie-Antoinette of Austria, the sitter for the pendant portrait to the finished version, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 219. The portrait of the Dauphine was engraved by Dambrun and published by Croissy in 1770 and again in 1776, with alterations for her accession to the throne as King Louis XVI's consort. The portrait of the Dauphin does not appear to have been engraved. In the present drawing, the Dauphin is flanked by a tiller symbolising wise government, and a yoke and plough, symbolising peace and prosperity. The tiller is inscribed with the name of Etienne Fran‡ois, duc de Choiseul, who was the King's leading minister from 1758 to 1770, while a cartouche in the lower left is inscribed 'Le duc de La Vauguyon', referring to the Dauphin's tutor. A study in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, shows an intermediate design for the lower section, in which the reference to Choiseul has been removed, possibly due to his fall from favour in 1770 resulting from the machinations of Madame Du Barry, E. Dacier, op. cit., no. 78. In the Copenhagen drawing King Louis IX is replaced by Triptolemus, King of Eleusis, who was taught the mysteries of agriculture by Ceres. This refers to the Dauphin's alleged interest in farming which led to him being dubbed 'Le nouveau TriptolŠme', as recorded in number of popular prints of the period, E. Dacier, op. cit., II, p. 14.