Joseph-Marie Vien Montpellier 1716 - 1809 Paris

Anonymous sale, Christie's, New York, May 31, 1989, lot 16 (as by Carle van Loo).

This Susanna and the Elders is an early work of the artist, painted circa 1743/44, just before he departed Paris to study at the French Academy in Rome (1744).  It clearly shows the influence of his master Natoire, in the lush portrayal of the female nude and the garden foliage.  The composition was inspired by Jean -François de Troy and his depiction of the same story is in the collection of the Musée de Beaux Arts, Rouen.  A signed and dated version of the present work is in the collection of the Musée des Beaux Arts, Nantes; in his Memoirs, Vien noted that he painted the Nantes pictures shortly before his departure to Rome at the request of the miniaturist Hubert Drouais.  This second version must have been made at the same time, and as Gaehtgens notes its "qualité [est] remarquable, peut-être supérieure à celle de [Nantes] (see literature)." There is a preparatory sketch for the composition in the Musée Atger, Montpellier.