The Interior of a Large Market

ca. 1775–78

Not on view

This drawing is a study for one of a pair of paintings commissioned by the abbé Joseph Marie Terray (1715–1778), then controller general of finance, to highlight the activities of agriculture, trade, and commerce that fell under his purview. The setting represented is loosely but recognizably based on the now destroyed outdoor market of Les Halles in central Paris. The bustling scene and abundance of food and goods were intended to project Terray’s successful management of this sector of the economy.

Artwork Details

Overview

Secondary Titles

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: The Interior of a Large Market
Artist: Nicolas Bernard Lépicié (French, Paris 1735–1784 Paris)
Date: ca. 1775–78
Medium: Pen and black and gray inks, brush and gray wash, heightened with white gouache, over black chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 5 7/8 × 10 1/16 in. (15 × 25.5 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Peco Foundation Gift, 2024
Object Number: 2024.120
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Nicolas Bernard Lépicié

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Old Woman, Nicolas Bernard Lépicié French, Red, white, and black chalk, with stumping — Old Woman
Nicolas Bernard Lépicié
ca. 1770–80

Portrait of Molière, from the "Oeuvres de Molière"

Multiple artists/makers

mid-18th century

Portrait of Molière, from "Gravures de Boucher pour les Oeuvres de Molière" [Figures de Boucher pour Molière]

Multiple artists/makers

mid-18th century

The Castle of Cards, Nicolas Bernard Lépicié French, Etching and engraving — The Castle of Cards
Nicolas Bernard Lépicié
Jean Siméon Chardin
1762

Copies after Jusepe de Ribera, Nicolas Bernard Lépicié French, Pen and black ink, gray wash, over graphite; framing lines in pen and brown ink — Copies after Jusepe de Ribera
Nicolas Bernard Lépicié
Jusepe de Ribera (called Lo Spagnoletto)
18th century

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