Ghezzi was the first professional caricaturist actually paid by his subjects. Based in Rome, he drew local patrons and tourists. This work makes fun of four influential French visitors. At the left stands the twenty-two year old Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Vandières. Through the influence of his sister, Madame to Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress, the marquis had been appointed the next Director Général des Bâtiments du Roi (Director of the King’s Buildings). To prepare, the young man made a study tour of Italy and is shown discussing a drawing of a church with the architect Soufflot. Cochin, an artist-engraver, who made such drawings on the trip, stands at right, while the art critic Le Blanc appears in front. Ghezzi exaggerated his subjects’ physical quirks without cruelty and gave the young Vandières a fish-like profile, perhaps punning on his family name Poisson (French for fish).
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Marquis de Vandières, Abbé Jean-Bernard Le Blanc, Germain Soufflot, and Charles-Nicolas Cochin, the Younger
Artist:Pier Leone Ghezzi (Italian, Comunanza near Ascoli Piceno 1674–1755 Rome)
Date:ca. 1750
Medium:Pen and brown ink, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions:11 15/16 x 8 1/4in. (30.4 x 21cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1972
Accession Number:1972.84
Inscription: The figures are numbered from 1 to 4, following the order of the title at the lower border. Another set of numbers, arranged differently, has been partially effaced. The mount is inscribed in pen and brown ink at the lower border, (I) Monsieur de Vandier Direttore delle Fabbriche del Re di / Francia (2) L'Abbe Bianco (3) Monsr. Suffló (4) Monsr. Coscian; numbered in pen and brown ink in upper right corner of the old mount, 20.
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington (British); Robert M. Light
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings Recently Acquired, 1972–75," October 1, 1975–January 4, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists in Rome in the 18th Century: Drawings and Prints," February 28–May 7, 1978.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," April 17–August 20, 1995.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century," February 27, 2000–May 21, 2000.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century," June 17, 2000–September 17, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine," September 13, 2011–March 4, 2012.
"Departmental Accessions: Drawings." in Annual Report of the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 1, 1971 - June 30, 1972. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 102, New York, 1972, p. 40.
Jacob Bean European Drawings Recently Acquired, 1972–1975. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1975, cat. no. 20.
Jacob Bean Artists in Rome in the 18th Century: Drawings and Prints Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (February 7 - May 7, 1978). New York, 1978.
Michel Gallet and others Soufflot et son temps 1780 - 1980. Exh. cat. Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites, Paris, Paris, 1980, cat. no. 76.
Alain Charre L'oeuvre de Soufflot à Lyon: Études et documents. University of Lyon, Lyon, 1982, fig. no. 88, pp. 172, 228.
James Byam Shaw The Italian Drawings of the Frits Lugt Collection. vol. 1, Paris, 1983, cat. no. 186, fig. no. 186, p. 187, ill.
Jacob Bean, William M. Griswold 18th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, cat. no. 69, fig. no. 69, p. 86, ill.
Alden R. Gordon "Jérôme-Charles Bellicard's Italian Notebook of 1750-51: The Discoveries at Herculaneum and Observations on Ancient and Modern Architecture." in The Metropolitan Museum Journal. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 25, New York, 1990, fig. no. 1, p. 50, ill.
Donald Posner "Mme. de Pompadour as a Patron of the Visual Arts." Art Bulletin. vol. 72, March 1990, fig. no. 4, p. 81, ill.
Edgar Peters Bowron, Edgar Peters Bowron, Joseph J. Rishel, Philadelphia Museum of Art Art in Rome in the Eighteenth Century. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2000, (entry by Anna Lo Bianco), cat. no. 355, p. 511, ill.
Nadine Orenstein, Constance C. McPhee Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine Exh. cat.: September 13, 2011 - March 4, 2012. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven and London, 2011, Entry by Constance McPhee, cat. no. 112, p. 144, ill.
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