Receuil d'Ornemens. Chapiteau des quattre Colonnes du Milieu de la Salle des Thermes de Diocletien à Rome. (Capital of the Four Columns in the Center of the Nave of the Baths of Diocletian in Rome).
Etcher Jean-Baptiste Lucien French
After André-Louis Caillouet French
Publisher Jacques François Chereau French
Not on view
Individual print added as part of the Recueil d'Ornemens. Other than the previous prints, this plate and the following are after
This set is part of a portfolio of twelve series lettered A through M and two loose plates with architectural ornaments after antique monuments in Rome and royal palaces in France. In total, the portfolio contains 50 plates, printed either with four to a page for smaller ornaments, two plates to a page for friezes and larger compositions, and a few with a single folio-sized plate.
The numbering system of the various series in the portfolio suggests that they were also sold separately, but additional folio numbers, engraved into the plates, suggests that the current portfolio was prepared and sold in this format by the publisher Jacques-François Chéreau (Rue des Mathurins au coin de la rue A. Sorbonnes).
Chéreau advertised the work as being in preparation as early as 1778 (Jacques-François Chéreau, Catalogue alphabétique van 1778, p. 35 : 'On grave actuellement dans cette manière [à l’imitation du Crayon], une suite considérable de Dessins d’Ornemens d’après les plus beaux monumens de Rome, cette suite contiendra des Rosaces, des Frises, des Chapiteaux, &c. & sera mise au jour par cahiers de différentes grandeurs & à divers prix. Elle formera un volume très-intéressant fort utile aux Artistes. Les premiers cahiers paroîtront dans le courant de 1778' - Identified by Dr. Peter Fuhring, Paris 2016).
The title on the spine attributes the draftsmanship of the plates to Richard de Lalonde (active Paris 1780–90) although the plates are simply signed 'R. L.' and the attribution has been questioned. Most plates were executed in the crayon manner by the sisters Brinclaire, signing 'Mlle Brainclaire' and 'L. Brinclaire' respectively. The drawings for the last two plates in the portfolio were prepared by André-Louis Caillouet and executed by Jean-Baptiste Lucien.
A separate loose print in the crayon manner by Caillouet and Lucien has been added to the portfolio by the museum and is pasted on a flyleaf at the back (acc.no. 62.537.2).
