Lot 2: *JEAN-CHARLES TARDIEU (FRENCH, 1765-1830) "JOSEPH RECONNU PAR SES FRERES"

signed with the monogram on the reverse and dated 1788 oil on canvas 44 3/4 by 57 1/2 in. 113.7 by 146.1 cm. This is Tardieu's treatment of the subject assigned to the contestants for the 1789 prix de Rome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, for which he was among the six finalists. The winning entries, by Anne-Louis Girodet (1767-1824) and Charles Meynier (1768-1838), are in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Exhibited: Rochester, New York, Memorial Art Gallery; New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University, Zimmerli Art Museum, La Grande Maniere: Historical and Religious Painting in France 1700-1800, 1987, No. 52.