Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Very important oil on canvas mounted on panel.
Probably from a series of the four elements, it symbolizes the air in the form of young fowler children.
The composition is centered around a majestic Medici marble vase with chubby young children at work.
On the left we can see Eros and Anteros squabbling over a crown of roses.
The man nicknamed Cupid is recognizable not only by his wings but also by his attributes, the bow and
quiver that litter the ground.
On the right, two young rose pickers observe them with the greatest interest. Sitting on the ledge and inside
the vase, two other children with a birdcage watch over their three companions, who are perched in a tree,
trying to capture doves.
Original canvas mounted on a wood panel.
The canvas is signed at the bottom left "J.Parrocel" and dated 1764.
Very good state of preservation, small restorations of use.
Size:
Height: 274.5 cm; Width: 164.5 cm
Our opinion:
The monumental canvas we are presenting was probably part of a series of four elements intended for the
decoration of an important castle.
With her fowler children and her birds, she symbolizes the air.
The cherubs and symbols of love perfectly represent the "Rococo" style, a trend whose aim is to make
people forget reality, thanks to representations of light scenes, gaieties and joie de vivre.
In the years 1760-1765, Joseph François Parrocel gradually took over from his master François Boucher
(1703-1770) for this type of large decoration. Declined for his role as a follower and his suave paintings in
the past, he obtained the highest distinction by being selected by the king's buildings in 1763 for the
creation of the ceiling of the auditorium of the Château de Choisy. The sketch of the project was accepted
and kept by the Marquis de Marigny who was then the intendant of the king's buildings.
The subject "Thalia, Melpomene and Terpsichore, on clouds with various groups of children holding
garlands of flowers" was painted by Parrocel in the spring of 1763 and was very well received.
Our canvases, signed "1764" were painted in the wake of this royal work. They must have required long
months of preparation between the sketch, the drawing and the final realization. In view of the monumental
size, it is easy to imagine that the purpose was very important and it is not excluded that it was a public
commission from a person very close to the king.
If generally this type of canvas is treated to be seen from a distance, this is not the case here; The whole is
meticulously made in the manner of an easel painting. In contrast to the often very busy "Rococo" works,
Parrocel tempered the rococo with a neoclassical vase and decorative elements that prefigure the Louis
XVI style.
The whole composition is fluid, the colors perfectly rendered with the pearly white of the marble vase, the
soft pink of the flowers or the lively complexions of the cherubs.
In our eyes, this series of elements constitutes the masterpiece of Joseph François Parrocel. It was probably
our paintings that inspired Diderot to comment on JF Parrocel in 1765 "he is a good man, who even, it is
said, has some taste for great decoration".
Joseph François Parrocel: (December 1704 – December 14, 1781) was a French painter and engraver.
Born into a family of artists, Joseph François Parrocel was born in Avignon and baptized on December 3,
1704. He was the son of Pierre Parrocel who taught him painting and Marie Anne de Seisson.
He married first Françoise Lemarchand and then an Englishwoman, Christine Edwige Ally. He had four
daughters, Jeanne-Françoise (1734-1829), Marie, Thérèse (1745-1835) and Jeannette (1747-1832), all of
whom would become painters.
Like a large majority of French painters of the eighteenth century, he left for Rome in 1717 and settled in
Paris as soon as he returned, which allowed him to join the royal academy in 1731 and to work a few years
later (1740) in the service of Cardinal de Rohan who put him in charge of the decoration of his palace.
In 1751, he was admitted to the Académie St Luc and exhibited at the Salon between 1755 and 1781. He is
very well known for his battle scenes but he is also a great decorator as mentioned by Diderot in 1765.
Indeed, at his peak in the decade 1760-1770, he worked for the king in Choisy, for the royal comedy and
for the Hôtel de la Marine.
Its very rococo décor is largely inspired by that of François Boucher, but it often incorporates very
meticulous architectural elements and particularly lively animals.
