Lot 2104 Dα

The unknown painter of the present self-portrait stands at an easel, sketching a densely populated, probably mythological, scene with chalk, while his palette lies on the floor - a sure reference to the primacy of disegno, the creative sketch, over painterly execution. Furthermore, the artist emphasises his particular erudition with the numerous books and folios scattered on and beneath the console table. One of the books to the left of his feet is the work "La peinture poëme en trois chants" (ill. 1) by the French playwright Antoine-Marin Lemierre (1733-1793), first published in Paris in 1769, which provides a terminus post quem for our painting.



[Marginal illustration]
Fig. 1 / Ill. 1:
Antoine-Marin Lemierre: La peinture poëme en trois chants, Paris 1769 (Titelblatt / Title page).