(Paris 1724-1803)
A view of the Temple of Theseus in Athens, pen, brown and black ink, watercolor, on laid paper, laid down on cardboard, framing lines in pen and black ink, 28 x 44,5 cm, browned, stained, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy

We are grateful to Prof. Philippe Cachau for the confirmation of the attribution on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph and for the scientific support.

The present drawing is related with an engraving of the same motif by Julien-David Le Roy, which was illustrated in his volume "Les Ruines des plux beaux monuments de la Grece" and engraved by Jacques-Philippe Lebas, published in 1758. In 1755 Le Roy traveled to Greece, where he made studies of monuments in preparation for the planned publication. The album was commissioned by the Count of Caylus, who, according to tradition consulted Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain as a second artist for the project. Le Lorrain was to revise the studies and to deliver the direct preliminary drawings for the engravings. Only few of the drawings for Le Roy’s book have survived to this day; one design by Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain for the temple of Jupiter is preserved in the Albertina, Vienna (Inv. Nr. 12221). According to Prof. Cachau, the present design can be attributed to Le Roy’s hand for stylistic reasons. It differs only in few details from the executed engraving: a ruin on the right side next to the two persons below the temple is not in the drawing, and the clouds in the sky are not as clearly defined as in the engraving.