This drawing by Jean-Jacques-Francois Le Barbier depicts Greek coins bearing profiles of young men, their hair held back with ribbons, on the obverse and images of a horseman and a charioteer on the reverse. Two laurel wreaths, symbols of victory, suggest the men may be heroes or athletes, possibly in an Olympic contest.
Le Barbier was a French painter, author, and illustrator who studied in Paris, Switzerland, and Rome, and was admitted to the Académie in 1785. He adopted a neoclassical style under the influence of David and took a scholarly interest in Greek culture and art, as reflected in this drawing. Le Barbier closely followed the political unrest and revolutions in North America and France, and one of his most notable works is the representation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen made in 1789 for the Assemblee Nationale.
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by crown, (Strasbourg lily), fragment.
Olry-Roederer, Louis, former owner.
Fleming, John F. (John Francis), 1910- former owner.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Sixteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969-1971. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1973, p. 117.