Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin
(1724–1780)
Momus, 1752
Inscribed in scroll, probably by the artist, in black chalk, Recue[il] / de / Déguisem[ents] / du Bal de / Saint Cloud / 1752 / Ds Gl de Saint-Aubin.
Red and black chalk, with touches of white chalk
13 7/8 x 9 1/2 inches (353 x 242 mm)
Purchased as the gift of the Fellows
1954.9
Item description:
The present drawing depicts Momus, the god of madness and a popular comic figure, holding a scroll announcing a recueil of costumes for a masked ball held by Louis-Philippe d'Orléans and his wife Louise-Henriette de Bourbon-Conty at the château Saint-Cloud in 1752. The single-figure composition and use of trois crayons are rare in Saint-Aubin's work; this sheet may be among his last large format drawings before he abandoned work on this scale.