Hubert François Gravelot

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Hubert François Gravelot
1699-1773
Venus on Clouds (left). Scene of Devastation (right)
ca. 1761
Graphite on paper; incised with the stylus.
1 7/8 x 4 7/8 inches (48 x 124 mm)
Gift of John F. Fleming.
1968.15:42
Notes: 

Gravelot's sketches on this sheet are for two small title-page vignettes to Books I and II of “Della Nature delle Cose” by Titus Lucretius Carus (London, 1761). The study at left shows Venus reclining on a bed of clouds, with Cupid at left. The sketch at right shows an apparent massacre, with people fleeing over the fallen bodies of women and children. Gravelot's designs were engraved by Ferdinando Gregori (1743-1804)

Provenance: 
Marie-Joseph-Colombe-Henri-Denis Beccaria de Pavie, Marquis de Fourquevaux (1762-1841), Fourquevaux, France; Emmanuel Bocher (1835-1919), Paris; Léon Olry-Roederer (1869-1932), Paris; A.S.W. Rosenbach (1876-1952), Philadelphia; John Fleming (1910-1987), New York.
Associated names: 

Fourquevaux, Joseph de Beccarie de Pavie, marquis de, 1762-1841, former owner.
Bocher, Emmanuel, 1835-1919, former owner.
Olry-Roederer, Léon, 1869-1932, former owner.
Rosenbach, A. S. W. (Abraham Simon Wolf), 1876-1952, former owner.
Fleming, John F. (John Francis), 1910-1987, former owner.

Bibliography: 

Kraemer, Ruth S. "Drawings by Gravelot in the Morgan Library." Master drawings, XX (Spring 1982), p. 9, no. 12, reproduced plate 6b.

Catalog link: 
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Artist page: 
Gravelot, Hubert François
School: 
French
Century: 
18th century
Classification: 
Drawing
Department: 
Drawings and Prints