Charles Percier

Percier's time in Rome at the French Academy had a profound effect on his art, not only because he of course studied the Roman monuments which would serve him in his later work, as here, but also because it was there that he formed a friendship with Fontaine, who later became his close associate in Paris.  The two artists worked there together, for Napoleon and Josephine, and they can honestly be considered among the most influential creators of the Empire style.

Percier was appointed Directeur de Décor at the Opera in Paris in 1792 and is recorded as having provided set designs for a number of productions.  One for Grétry's Anacreon was sold London, Christie's, 3 July 1990, lot 169.  It is likely that this too is a stage design.