wimmin in white, part xvi ...

to to be continued ... in part xvii from 3rd November 2023

Althaea ... Picart's lovely chalk drawing ... its origin and its purpose

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althaea_(mythology)

Picart's red chalk drawing probably derives from a "cartoon" created for tapestry weavers by Charles le Brun in the ?1650s?

Cartoons used for this purpose were full scale oil paintings and were rented to the manufacturers on a strict timescale so that their workers would only have enough time to weave one edition.  The rent was agreed in a complex contract and was for a substantial sum of cash, part of which was a deposit.

Le Brun's original set may have contained as many as twelve huge panels.

All that remains of the Althaea scene is a tapestry panel hanging at the chateau at Chambord.  The cartoon itself has long-since vanished.

Other cartoons, such as the one at Liverpool, are dated to 1658.

Le Brun died in 1690.

Picart's copy seems to date from 1712.

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.360

The print from Picart's studio is uncertainly dated.  It is very likely from 1712 because ( in my opinion ) Picart's later prints were more assured in their technique.

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-1921-566

Bernard Picart used to design and print wedding notices, I'm not sure if they were before or after ...

 

interesting articles on maurice sendak ... outside, over there might be his masterpiece ...

 

https://www.wyso.org/arts-culture/2022-11-11/maurice-sendak-and-the-art-of-stealing

http://wereaditlikethis.blogspot.com/2012/06/outside-over-there-but-never-watched.html

Venetia Stanley, Lady Digby ... painted by Anthony van Dyck ... and her husband, Sir Kenelm Digby, by the same artist ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetia_Stanley

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenelm_Digby