Prosper Mérimée Cats And Sketches

Sheet with different sketches of a cat, a beau, a gharial and an unidentified or imaginary animal. Some are executed in ink and pen, others in pencil. The sheet is signed in pen at the bottom right. Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870), known today as a writer, notably Carmen, was born into an artistic environment. He was an inspector of historical monuments and was responsible for a number of safeguards of architectural heritage. He drew, as part of his duties, and particularly loved sketching the cats he met during his inspection tours. He also contributed drawings to the illustration of the book on cats written by Champfleury in 1869. The drawing is framed in a gilded wooden frame and measures 29.4x20 cm.