Anton Raphael Mengs

The overall condition of these two pastels is extremely good: the chalk is fresh and the surfaces largely undisturbed. There are some small defects that include cockling of the paper in both subjects, mainly along the upper edge of the oval. There is also some surface rubbing in the dark brown at the upper left of Pleasure and on the elbow at the lower right (visible in the illustration). There is similar rubbing along the upper edge of Innocence. In this composition there is also a tiny repair in the fold of drapery above the figure's right shoulder, some tiny losses of pastel on her left upper arm and a small stain in the extreme lower curve of the oval. (Please note -- these two pastels were not examined out of their frames.)
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

We are grateful to Dr. Steffi Roettgen for confirming this pair of pastels to be by Mengs and for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.  She believes them to be second versions by the artist himself of his compositions of Innocence and Pleasure originally commissioned by the sculptor L'Epine in Rome who later sold them to Paul Henri Thiry Baron d'Holbach in Paris.¹ That pair has been dated to circa 1754.² The version of Pleasure owned by Baron d'Holbach is today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art  (Acc. No. 2005.231).  There are differences between the two versions, most noticeably the inclusion of a rainbow surrounding the figure of Pleasure in the Metropolitan's version that is not included in the present one.

The pendant depicting Innocence, formerly in the d'Holbach collection, is lost and the composition, until now, was known only from a drawing by Mengs' pupil, Nikolaus Mosmann, who copied it in black chalk.³ Mosmann worked in Rome only from 1757 onwards and never went to Paris. Roettgen speculates that he must have used a version of Innocence which was in Mengs' Roman studio.  Mosmann's drawing and the present version of Innocence are alike in every detail and, as Roettgen points out, especially in the very particular physiognomic expression of the figure and she believes that it is highly probable that the present version of Innocence was the basis of Mosmann's drawing. Though he did not make a copy of the pendant, it seems logical that Mengs would also have had in his studio at the time a second version of Pleasure.

A full expertise by Dr. Steffi Roettgen, dated November 25, 2008, accompanies this lot.

 

1.   See S. Roettgen, Anton Raphael Mengs 1728-1779, Munich 1999, vol. I, pp. 183-4, cat. nos. 121 and 122.
2.  A circa date of 1754, or terminus ante quem, can be established for the d'Holbach pair based on documentation recounting that the Marquis de Croismare, who had seen and admired the two pastels, asked Mengs in June 1754 to paint two pastels of similar subjects for him:  Allegroy of Vanity and Allegory Wisdom, delivered in 1756, now lost.  Preparatory drawings of them are in Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe; see Roettgen, op.cit, p. 161, cat. nos. 106 and 107.
3.  In the collection of the British Museum, London, Inv. Nr. T-05-13.