Counter-proof By Edmé Bouchardon

Counterproof of a red chalk from the Louvre after the monument of Cardinal Giovanni Garcia Mellini sculpted by Alessandro Algardi, known as L'Algarde (1598-1654) for the family chapel, 1637-1638, marble, Mellini Chapel, to the left of the altar, Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The drawing in the Louvre probably comes from a notebook. Its dimensions are close to those of the sheets of the notebook kept at the Pierpont Morgan Library (Inv. B3 030 A 22, vol. I, H. 0.198; W. 0.138, vol. II, H. 0.182; W. 0.125 approximately). Our counter-proof is reproduced in the catalogue of the Romana gallery, Paris, in June 1987 (No. 3, in graphite at the bottom right: "Bouchardon fec.", H. 0.205; W. 0.173). Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) is one of the great sculptors of the reign of Louis XV. The son of a sculptor, he trained with Guillaume Coustou and then won the Prix de Rome in 1722. He spent 9 years in Italy where he continued to draw from antique and baroque sculptures. Upon his return, he was appointed sculptor to the King. He is known to have produced around fifty statues. Among his major works is the fountain on Rue de Grenelle. It illustrates his interest in the problematic of this urban element, which he had developed in his project for the fountain in Trévi. Cupid Making a Bow from Hercules' Club (1750), preserved at the Louvre Museum, is another of his masterpieces. This sculpture, commissioned by the director of the King's Buildings, Philibert Orry, was intended for the Palace of Versailles. He also liked to surround young geniuses or children with fabulous animals (Child Riding a Dolphin, plaster at the Museum of Los Angeles and one of the high reliefs in the Salon des Dauphins of the former Palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liège). These are either high reliefs, plaster casts or bronzes, often dated and signed. In 1758, in his foundry workshop on rue du Faubourg-du-Roule (site of the current 195 to 205 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré), he created an equestrian statue of Louis XV, transported by cart to Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde). His death in 1762 interrupted his conception of the pedestal. He is considered a point of balance between the severity of the Antique and the grace of natural rocaille. He is also seen as a precursor of neoclassicism in sculpture and known for his talents as a draftsman, considered by his contemporaries to be the most gifted of his time. The drawing is framed in a carved and gilded wooden frame in the Louis XVI style. Without this frame, it measures 21.8 x 17.4 cm. The paper has some foxing. A counterproof, a common practice in the 18th century, consists of applying a moistened sheet of paper to a drawing in black stone or red chalk, and putting the whole thing under pressure. The result is an inverted drawing, with less material. Artists used this technique to duplicate their drawings, but also to reverse their compositions, not hesitating to redraw them in red chalk, watercolor, or pen.