Offered by Stéphane Renard Fine Art
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Pen and black ink, brown wash enhanced with white, on brown paper, curved
Dimensions: 4 3/4 x 7 1/8 in (112 x 181 mm) – Framed : 11 ¾ x 13 ¾ in (30 x 35 cm)
Signed lower right "Moitte" and annotated "The Death of Adonis"
Period Louis XVI frame in carved wood with pearl motif and gilding, decorated with a frieze of stuccoed water leaves
This elegant composition, whose curved shape suggests that it was intended for some decorative project, illustrates Moitte's shift around 1780 towards the neoclassical movement, inspired by the canons of the late Renaissance.
1. Jean-Guillaume Moitte painter, sculptor, draftsman, ornamentalist, illustrator, and engraver
Born in Paris in 1746, Jean-Guillaume Moitte was first trained in the studio of his father, a renowned engraver. Having decided to devote himself to sculpture, he then studied under Jean-Baptiste Pigalle and Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne. In 1768, his sculpture depicting David carrying the head of Goliath in triumph earned him the first Prix de Rome in sculpture.
During his stay at the Villa Medici, Moitte discovered Roman antiquity and copied numerous ornamental elements, as well as all the bas-reliefs on Trajan's Column. Unfortunately, he had to cut short his stay in Rome for health reasons, but the documentation he gathered during his stay provided him with an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
Back in Paris, Jean-Guillaume Moitte began painting and sculpting in the Baroque style, which was still in vogue at the time. He also worked for the king's goldsmith, Henri Auguste, to whom he delivered numerous silverware designs. But he soon found his true style. Influenced by the works he had admired in Rome, Moitte became one of the first artists to promote the neoclassical movement.
In 1782, he was hired by the architect Pierre Rousseau to work with the sculptor Philippe-Laurent Roland on all the sculptures and ornamental elements for the Hôtel de Salm. In 1785, he produced neoclassical illustrations for the reissue of Fénelon's The Adventures of Telemachus.
In 1789, Moitte, who had always been very close to the philosophy of the Enlightenment, embraced the ideas of the French Revolution and put his art at the service of the new regime. In 1790, he was commissioned to create a statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which was erected on the terrace of the Tuileries (now in the Carnavalet Museum). After the Reign of Terror, Jean-Guillaume Moitte's refined neoclassicism remained in favor. The artist produced monumental sculptures, including an equestrian statue of General Bonaparte.
Bonaparte entrusted him with the design of the funerary monument dedicated to Desaix, erected at the Great Saint Bernard Pass, the site of the general's burial.
Under the Consulate and then the Empire, Moitte continued to enjoy success, as evidenced by the commission for bas-reliefs for the Cour Carrée of the Louvre. The École des Beaux-Arts in Paris appointed him professor of sculpture on December 20, 1809. He died in 1810.
2. A mythological subject treated in the neoclassical style
Adonis, a mere mortal of great beauty, had inspired the love of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. One day, while hunting in the Idalean forest , Adonis was mortally wounded in the leg by the boar he had shot. Continuing the classical decorative tradition dating back to the Renaissance, our design depicts the tragic moment when Aphrodite discovers the lifeless body of her lover, mortally wounded and lying on the ground.
Aphrodite has knelt down to lift Adonis's body, lovingly supporting his head with her right hand. Her tense facial expression betrays her pain at the sight of her lover's lifeless body, with his two spears, now useless, lying beside him.
Our drawing is finely executed in pen and black ink on brown paper; the modulations of the muscles and clothing of our two protagonists are delicately rendered with highlights of white gouache, complemented by a few touches of brown ink wash.
The figure of Adonis is reminiscent of the dead Christ as seen in countless Pietàs, giving this scene an almost religious connotation. The characteristic elongation of Adonis' legs and Aphrodite's left arm also provides them with a Mannerist grace.
3. Framing
Our drawing is presented in a sober Louis frame in carved and gilded wood, whose rigor harmonizes perfectly with this contemplative neoclassical atmosphere.
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