Jean-Guillaume MOITTE (Paris, 1746 – ibid., 1810) - Lot 550

Jean-Guillaume MOITTE (Paris, 1746 – ibid., 1810) Clio, Muse of History. Brown ink wash on brown-washed paper over engraved lines. Height: 200 cm Length: 43.6 cm Provenance: - Paris, private collection. Jean-Guillaume Moitte, commissioned around 1804 to create the bas-reliefs for the east facade of the Cour Carrée at the Louvre, produced several designs on the prescribed theme—intended to evoke history—of which only the one dedicated to Bonaparte was ultimately selected. The lines engraved by his wife were overlaid with a brown ink wash applied by Guillaume Moitte. Only two copies of this allegory are known to exist. Bibliography: Gisella Grammaccini, Jean-Guillaume Moitte, Leben und Werk, Berlin, 1993.