Pierre-auguste Pichon 1805-1900 Study For The Face Of Saint Wolf

Pierre-Auguste PICHON
(Sorrèze - 1805 – Paris - 1900)
Study for the face of the father of saint Genevieve
Black stone on white paper
41.5 x 29 cm 
Inscription at the bottom right: “Chapelle St Geneviève à st' Eustache. »
In 1851 Pierre-Auguste Pichon, a student of Jean-Dominique Ingres, received an order for the decoration of the Sainte-Geneviève chapel of the Saint-Eustache church in Paris.
He presented his painted sketches at the Salon of 1857 (today in Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais). Our two drawings are directly related to the panel representing the Meeting of Saint Geneviève with Saint Germain d'Auxerre and Saint Loup.
The two bishops, passing through on their way to Great Britain, stopped at Nanterre (ca. 430) where they noticed young Geneviève and predicted a bright future for her parents.
The first sheet is a study for the face of Saint Wolf whom we recognize with his downcast gaze and the low miter which covers his forehead.
The second study is a three-quarter profile in which we easily recognize the face of the father of Saint Geneviève located near Saint Loup.