Etienne Jeaurat

Unframed. Laid down on card. There are some minor losses to the edges of the sheet. Some light foxing and a light brown stain in the upper center. Also a water-type stain to the right of the lower edge. Otherwise condition fine, the medium strong.
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.

This beautiful scene is one of a series of Roman landscapes executed in brown wash heightened with white on blue paper which were drawn by Jeaurat in the mid 1720s.  The drawings were prompted by Nicolas Vleughels, Jeaurat's patron and the Director of the French Academy in Rome, where Jeaurat was a pensionnaire.  Vleughels, ''amoureux des belles veües de ce pays'', intended to revive the art of landscape painting amongst his pupils, who were encouraged to study scenes from life, as Jeaurat must have done here.  Other drawings from the series are in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Fondation Custodia, Paris,¹ while one was formerly with Katrin Bellinger and another was sold in London, Sotheby's, 2 July 1990, lot 146.

1. See Maîtres Français 1550-1800: dessins de la donation Mathias Polakovits à l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, exhib. cat., Paris 1989, pp. 200-201, cat. no. 80