Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury
(Cologne, 1797 – Paris, 1890)
Studies of Historical and Venetian Compositions: Embarkation on the Grand Canal in Venice (front) / Scene of Devotion or Baptism (back)
Black chalk on paper.
284 mm x 380 mm – 11 3/16 x 14 15/16 in.
Former handwritten annotation “Robert Fleury ” in black chalk in the upper left corner and inventory numbers.
Provenance: Ferdinand Allègre Collection (his original mounting).
Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury was a major French historical painter and draftsman of the Romantic era. A student of Antoine-Jean Gros, Horace Vernet, and Girodet, he undertook a formative stay in Italy in the early 1820s before establishing himself at the Salon during the Restoration and the July Monarchy. Appointed professor and later director of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as well as director of the Académie de France in Rome (Villa Medici), he is renowned for his large-scale historical compositions rich in drama, meticulously rendering the authenticity of Renaissance costumes and architecture.
This sheet offers a direct insight into the artist’s creative process, capturing the rapid development of two distinct compositions, in which the dynamism of the black chalk lines structures the space, the play of shadows, and the arrangement of the figures.
On the front, the drawing depicts a historical or religious genre scene set inside a church, centered around an imposing holy water font or baptismal font in the foreground on the left. A group of figures elegantly dressed in Renaissance costumes moves toward the center, while in the upper register, sketches of bust figures and studies of drapery stand out.
On the reverse, the artist has sketched a lively Venetian scene along the banks of a canal. In front of the façade of a palace with Renaissance arcades, a gondola prepares to welcome draped figures descending the pier, in a picturesque atmosphere characteristic of Romantic depictions of La Serenissima.
Robert-Fleury’s studies and sketches in black chalk for his large Renaissance compositions and Venetian subjects are held in several public collections, notably at the Louvre Museum (Department of Graphic Arts) and the Magnin Museum in Dijon.
Condition: In good overall condition; the sheet is preserved on its original amateur mount. Traces of slight creases and small foxing spots on the paper. Framed between two panes of glass.
