Théodore Gericault (1791-1824)—draughtsman of the portrayed
horses;
Charles
Louis Lesaint (1795-1843)—draughtsman of
the architecture;
Godefroy
Engelmann I (1788–1839)—printer.
“Church of St Nicolas, Rouen” (aka “L´Église
de St. Nicolas” “Eglise St Nicolas, Rouen”), 1823, published
in 1825 by l'Imprimerie de Pierre Didot l'Ainé in France as an
illustration to Charles
Nodier’s (1780–1844) et al., “Voyages
Pittoresques et Romantiques dans l'Ancienne France: Ancienne Normandie”, vol. 2,
following page 69; see https://archive.org/details/bnf-bpt6k1040443d/page/n215/mode/2up.
Lithograph
on chine collé on wove paper.
Size:
(sheet) 53 x 34.5 cm; (unevenly cut chine collé) 36.3 x 25.3 cm; (image
borderline) 34.4 x 23.9 cm.
Lettered
in plate above the image borderline: (centre) “P. 150.”
Lettered
in plate below the image borderline: (left) “'Lesaint et Gericault. 1823.”;
(centre) “Eglise St. Nicolas.”; (right) “Lith. de G: Engelmann.”
Clément
46 (Charles Clément 1879, “Géricault: étude biographique et critique, avec le
Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître”, Paris, Didier et cie, p. 302, cat.
no. 46 [https://archive.org/details/gricaulttudebio00clgoog/page/n405/mode/2up]);
Delteil 93.
The
British Museum offers the following description of this print: “View into a
chapel, with in the foreground two horses unharnessed from a carriage from
which men remove a coffin; light streaming in from the left, details of
statuary and glass windows, other horses further back; published in 'Voyages
pittoresques et romantiques dans l'ancienne France', (tome II: 'Normandie').
1823” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-1114-279).
Condition:
a strong and well-printed impression. The chine collé is irregularly cut (compare
with similarly irregular chine collé sheet to be seen in the impression held be
the MET [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/399586])
with minor marks, otherwise, the sheet is in
an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant
stains or foxing.
Interestingly,
I understand that the portrayed church, Saint-Nicolas in Rouen, was damaged
during the French Revolution leading to its closure for thirty-two years before
this print was executed. Sadly, the church was ultimately destroyed fourteen
years after this print was published, but “the steeple was moved to Cottévrard,
and the stained glass to York Minster in England” (see https://www.stnicholascenter.org/gazetteer/1867#:~:text=The%2012th%20century%20Church%20of,1791%20and%20destroyed%20in%201840).
I suspect that the portrayed scene —and I may be very wrong! —shows the Church
of St Nicolas in its deconsecrated state of closure. If this is true then the
sight of workmen removing the coffins of those interred into a large mud wagon/stagecoach
with the far end of the church being used as a holding stable for horses makes
sense for me. Note also the stirrups and other tack hung on the stonework along
with a wheel on the left and the light piercing through the gathered dust in
the air, I believe, supports the idea that the church is no longer a holy sanctuary.
I am
selling this rare lithograph executed in part by the great Théodore Gericault (who
drew the horses and the wagon bearing a coffin) and by Charles Louis Lesaint (who
drew the architectural details and light streaming into the church), for the
total cost of AU$332 (currently US$221.91/EUR200.78/GBP176.75 at the time of
posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world,
but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.
If you
are interested in purchasing this outstanding lithograph, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.
This print has been sold
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