Figures in the Portico of Sainte-Geneviève le Panthéon, Paris

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin

1776–79 · Pen and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, over black chalk · Drawings and Prints

Saint-Aubin took a keen interest in the decades-long construction of the church of Saint Genevieve, designed by the architect Jacques Germain Soufflot (1713–1780). Dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, it was funded by the crown and therefore also meant to celebrate the king’s role in the glory of the French capital. In this atmospheric image, Saint-Aubin shows figures admiring the soaring classical columns of the portico, which was completed by 1776.

Artist

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin

Date

1776–79

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, over black chalk

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Alexandrine Sinsheimer, 1958