Lot 43: Louis-Adrien Masreliez (1748-1810)

A Vestal Virgin holding a vase
Inscribed: J.T. Sergell.- in black ink on the verso and: Johann Tobias Sergel in grey ink on the old mount
red chalk, pen and grey ink and grey wash; watermark: MAGIS/ELN
359 x 209mm

Although this drawing bears an old attribution to the Swedish artist Johan Tobias Sergel (1740-1814), Ulf Cederlof has recently suggested that it would appear instead to be an early work by a contemporary of Sergel who, like him, was trained in the studio of the foremost sculptor in Sweden at the time, Pierre Hubert L'Archeveque (1721-1788). Dr. Cederlof notes that the present sheet, which is close in style to the drawings of L'Archeveque, must be the work of one of his pupils in the early 1760s', namely Louis Masreliez. He further points out that several of Masreliez's early drawings were wrongly attributed to L'Archeveque in the 19th century. The spirited application of wash in the present drawing is akin to that found in another youthful drawing by Masreliez, depicting Putti Playing by a Bust of Hippocrates, which is part of an album in the collection of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (inv. NM H 4-54/1988).
Born in Paris, Louis Masreliez was the son of an ornamental sculptor who settled in Sweden when Louis was five years old. He studied in Stockholm, Paris and Bologna before settling in Rome in 1773. He remained there until 1782. Soon after his return to Stockholm, he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy, rising to the post of Director in 1805. Active mainly as a painter, Masreliez also undertook several projects for interior decoration, notably for King Gustav III, and other members of the Swedish royal family.
The present sheet was at one time in the collection of the Swedish physician, writer and gastronome Charles Emil Hagdahl (1809-1897), who was particularly known as a writer of cookery books. Hagdahl was also instrumental in the foundation of the Ostergutland County Museum in Sweden, to whom he donated several works of art from his collection.