Jean Berain the Elder

The court of Louis XIV was known for its extravagant theatricals and festivities, especially the mascarades organized for Carnival.  At the time the Dauphin came of age, the King decided to revive the idea of a tournament, or carrousel, which featured games of equestrian skill.  This drawing records a figure from the Carrousel des Galants Maures, a tournament staged in 1685 at Versailles.  Berain was in charge of the design of the event and it was a great chance for him to display his talents.  The carrousel was given outdoors on two days, June 4 and 5. Unfortunately, there was a violent storm which impeded the riders from using their lances to best effect.  These entertainments were extremely expensive: it is recorded that the King spent 100,000 livres on it, but the total costs were probably higher as each nobleman would have paid for his own costume.  The subject of the tournament was taken from a Spanish 16th century epic recounting the civil wars in Granada between the Abencérages and the Zégris.  The Dauphin led the former and the Duc de Bourbon the latter.  A series of etchings heightened with watercolor of some of the figures is in the collection of the Bibliothèque d'Art et d'Archéologie, Paris.¹  The present drawing relates, with small differences, to a print titled Chevalier de la Quadrille du Dauphin.

According to the previous owner, M. Jérome de La Gorce, who wrote a book on Berain, accepted the attribution, having seen the original.

1. See J. de La Gorce, Berain, Paris 1986, p. 114 and another single page, sold New York, Christie's, 10 January 1996, lot 175