Vivant Denon

In this quick study Vivant Denon portrayed himself examining a folio of drawings or prints at his desk. Despite being notoriously ugly, according to reports from the time, Vivant Denon made multiple self-portraits in both etchings and drawings,including an etching of himself posed, in his own words, "alla maniera Fiaminga" (“in the Flemish manner,” see Vivant Denon catalogue, figs. 44, 45). The present sketch shows him backlit by a window with drapery along one side and surrounded by vases and antiquities, both features of several of his self-portraits. The late gothic reliquary displayed to the left was in the artist's personal collection and was in the sale of Vivant Denon's collection in 1826. Now in the museum at Chateauroux (inv. 70.6.245), the reliquary was included in the Vivant Denon exhibition at the Louvre in 1999-2000 (fig. 480). His self-portraits were an important part of his oeuvre, which likely included hundreds of portrait drawings, mainly of members of the aristocracy, diplomatic corps, and clergy. Vivant-Denon was adept at capturing his sitters' expressions in few strokes, and his drawings were notable for the fineness of their execution and for their delicacy of style, displaying the influence of his training in the workshop of Augustin de Saint-Aubin (1736-1807).