Nicolas Poussin

Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445);
William Coningham (1815-1884), according to Chennevières the drawings from this collection were acquired en bloc by Colnaghi in 1846;
Aimé Charles Horace His de la Salle (1795-1878), according to Chennevières;
Marquis Ph. de Chennevières (L.2072), recorded in L'Artiste, Une collection de dessins d'artistes français, chapter 1, p. 92;
his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 4-7 April 1900, possibly part of lot 417, for 20 Francs to Wyzewa, or more likely part of lot 418, for 30 Francs to Roblin; 
Louis Deglatigny (1854-1936);
his sale Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 4-5 November 1937, lot 304 (as Attributed to Poussin); 
Winslow and Anna Ames, Saunderstown, Rhode Island (bears their drystamp, not in Lugt)

Musée d'Alençon, Catalogue des Dessins de la Collection du M^s de Chennevières-Pointel, 1857, no. 3

W. Friedlaender and A. Blunt, The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin, 1949, vol. II, pp. 16-18, nos. A35- A36 (wrongly described as probably a copy), pl. 124, reproduced;
H. Bardon, 'Poussin et la littérature latine', in Actes du colloque Nicolas Poussin, Paris 1960, p. 128;
V.K. Guerz, 'Tableau inédit de N. Poussin 'Zenobie sauvée par les bergers', in Musée de L' Ermitage, Travaux du Départment de l'art européen, VI, 1965, pp. 277-78, recto reproduced, fig. 4, p. 283, note 4;
A. Blunt, The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin. A Critical Catalogue, London 1966, vol. I, under no. L82;
Idem, Nicolas Poussin. The A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts 1958, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.,  New York-London 1967, p. 163, note 17;
W. Friedlaender and A. Blunt, The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin, London 1974, pp. 96-97;
A. Blunt, The Drawings of Poussin, New Haven-London 1979, p. XIII, no. 185, recto reproduced p. 168, p. 169, no. 185, p. 198, note 22;
R. Verdi, 'Review of 'The Drawings of Poussin', by Anthony Blunt, New Haven-London 1979', in The Burlington Magazine, CXXII, August 1980, p. 587;
D. Wild, Nicolas Poussin, Zurich 1980, vol. I, p. 193, drawing II, and under no. 170;
A. Blunt, The Drawings of Poussin, Poitiers 1988, French ed. of New Haven-London 1979, pp. 182-184, reproduced fig.164;
H. Brigstocke, Nicolas Poussin, exhibition catalogue, Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1990-1991, under no. 53; 
P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat, Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665, Milan 1994, vol. I, p. 674, no. 347, reproduced p. 675 and under no. 119;
L.-A. Prat, La collection Chennevières, Paris 2007, p. 218, no. 15, reproduced p. 219

The sheet appears to have a defect in the paper, a crease running across the sheet which, to the right, has broken in a few small places and been repaired. Possibly a trace of an old fold running vertically to the right. On the verso, from a slight discolouration of the paper, one could guess that there might be something like a piece of paper backing the horizontal paper crease. This very slight discolouration is slightly noticeable from the recto. Little surface dirt and little small stains toward the margins but overall in good condition. The verso, apart from the discolouration to a darker beige on the right and left section of the sheet, does not seem to have any other problems.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The story of Queen Zenobia, taken from Tacitus, is the subject of two known paintings and six drawings by Poussin and his entourage.  Zenobia, wife of Rhadamistus, King of Armenia, had fled from Artaxata after an insurrection.  During her escape she was overcome with the pain of childbirth and persuaded her husband to kill her rather than leave her to the mercy of the enemies, the Parthians.  Rhadamistus stabbed her and threw her into the river Araxes, but she was rescued by shepherds.¹ 

Of the two painted versions of The Rescue of Queen Zenobia, one is lost and thought to be by Charles Alphonse Dufresnoy (1611- 1668) but the other, in the Hermitage, is now believed to be by Poussin (fig. 1).  Rosenberg and Prat publish six drawings of the subject by Poussin, including this one, and propose the following chronology for them: one in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, circa 1635-40, followed by one in the National Museum, Stockholm, circa 1635-40, one in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, circa 1640, and in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, circa 1642. They place the present sheet and the one in the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf, much later, circa 1649-50.²  The composition of the present study is very different from that of the painting in the Hermitage and from the other drawings, except for the one in Düsseldorf, in which, as here, a group of horsemen has replaced the shepherds surrounding the body of Queen Zenobia in the earlier versions.  Stylistically the present sheet and the one in Düsseldorf are very close and were surely produced at the same moment.  On the verso of our sheet there are also notations of a landscape, which is the subject of the recto of the Düsseldorf drawing and also of the left section of its verso. 

The two figures on the verso of this drawing, drawn in chalk and on a larger scale, are extremely unusual in Poussin's surviving work.  In discussing them, Rosenberg and Prat make the interesting suggestion that they could be a rare and important example of Poussin's studying a single figure 'selon les principes académiques', in preparation for this composition or another.

1.  Tacitus, Annals, XII, 51

2.  See Rosenberg and Prat, op.cit., nos. 119, 120, 121, 122, 348, all reproduced