Jules Machard
Sampans, 1839 – Bellevue, 1900
Study for the staircase of the Salle des Maréchaux in the Ministry of War
230 x 360 mm – 9 1/16 x 14 3/16 in.
Study for the staircase of the Salle des Maréchaux in the Ministry of War by Jules Machard
Bibliography: Virginie Frelin and Elisabeth Coulon, Jules Machard, le culte de la ligne, exhibition catalogue, 4 April to 15 June 2003, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole, cited, p. 24-25.
This drawing belongs to a set of 85 drawings from the studio of Jules Machard presented by Drawings-online. Read our focus on the artist.
This drawing is a study sheet for the decoration project of the grand staircase of the room known as the Comité des Maréchaux at the Ministry of War, commissioned in 1877 from Jules Machard. He did not execute this decoration and withdrew in 1882 from the administration in favor of his friend Joseph Blanc (1846-1904).
Our design is based on a tripartite composition, centered on the glorious personification of France seated next to a lion and protected by the Genius of Liberty, hovering above her. The left panel would have presented Industry, based on Wealth and Commerce, and linked to Labor and the Arts. On the right, the Army, led by the Genius of Patriotism, was based on Discipline and Military Courage (cf. op. cit, p. 24-25).
