Pierre Jacques

Thomas Banks (L.2423);
Sir Edward John Poynter (L.874),
his sale, London, Sotheby's 24 April 1918, lot 65 (as Italian School, late 16th Century, for £2)

R. Kultzen, 'Eine unbekannte antikenzeichnung von Pierre Jacques', in Festschrift für Konrad Oberhuber, Milan 2000, pp. 307-310, figs. 1 and 2

Unframed. Some small tears at the upper edge. Was previously hinged near right edge - the remains of some glue in a vertical strip. There are some slight ink-type stains on each side, and on the verso a small light brown stain in the upper centre. Also the remains of some mounting paper hinges to the left edge of the recto. However, the ink is still strong and fresh.
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Rolf Kultzen (op. cit.) bases his attribution on comparison with pages in Jacques' highly important Roman sketchbook now, preserved in the Bibliothèque National, Paris.  The studies on the verso are probably after a Dionysus sarcophagus of the 3rd Century like one now at Blenheim.¹  Kultzen emphasises that artists like Jacques often selected details from classical remains and adapted them to contemporary taste and usage. The griffin on the recto is similar to one on an architectural frieze discovered in Trajan's Forum.²

The Jacques sketchbook in Paris contains drawings - mostly in pen and ink and black chalk, but some, like the present sheet, also with red chalk - which document his study of antiquities in Roman collections as well as some contemporary works.  'His sketchbook of drawings made on the site (one of the few such to be preserved) is an essential source for the study of antique statues and reliefs in Roman collections in the latter half of the 16th century.'³  Jacques made several trips to Rome, but pursued a successful career as a sculptor in his native Reims.

1.  See P.P. Bober and R. Rubinstein, Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture: A Handbook of Sources, London 1986, p. 115, no. 80

2.  Ibid., p. 92, no. 55

3.  P. Rouillard and R. Rubinstein in The Dictionary of Art, London 1996, vol. 16, p. 853