Bust of Minerva

Louis Léopold Boilly

ca. 1798 · Conté crayon, stumping, heightened with white chalk on faded blue paper · Drawings and Prints

This study of a bust of Minerva set into a niche is related to Reunion of Artists, Boilly’s famous group portrait of contemporary artists, sculptors, and architects gathered in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855). The bust was part of a stylish up-to-the-minute décor designed by Charles Percier (French, 1764–1838) and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (French, 1762–1853), the leading architects of the period. Indeed, Jean-Baptiste Isabey’s studio was featured in no fewer than five plates from their influential publication Recueil de décorations intérieures (1812) and embodied an up-to-the-moment style that was integral to the painting’s articulation of the artist’s place in society. In the finished work, Percier and Fontaine stand together, admiring a drawing just below the oversize statue.

Artist

Louis Léopold Boilly

Date

ca. 1798

Medium

Conté crayon, stumping, heightened with white chalk on faded blue paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Louis de Bayser, 2009