Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Emile Wauters (L.911);
with Mathias Komor, New York, by 1965

Newark Museum, Nineteenth Century Master Drawings, 1961, no. 2

F. Lees, The Art of the Great Masters, London 1913, pp. 68 and 169, fig. 188

Hinged in two places along the upper edge to a modern mount. There is a sensitively restored old vertical tear to the sheet and an old vertical crease to the centre of the sheet. There is some minor discolouration to the extremities as a result of an old mount. There is some minor surface dirt. Otherwise in good condition, with the medium strong. Sold in a giltwood frame.
"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."

This impressive, large sheet is one of a number of surviving preparatory studies executed by Ingres for the figure of Antiochus in his painting, Antiochus and Stratonice (Fig.1). The painting is known in four surviving versions,¹ the prime example of which was commissioned by the Duc d’Orleans in 1834, and eventually completed by Ingres in 1840. The narrative, taken by Ingres from Plutarch’s Life of Demetrius, depicts Antiochus, the desperately love-sick son of Seleucus, bed bound, whilst Stratonice, his father’s wife and the object of his desires, stands wistfully at the end of his bed.

The present work, in which Antiochus is depicted lying on his back, his head resting limply on its side while his right arm lies across his covered waist, differs significantly in the positioning of his arms to the Chantilly painting, illustrating perfectly the lengths that Ingres went to, to perfect the composition. This point is further illustrated by the large number of surviving drawings relating to Ingres’ various treatments of the subject of Antiochus and Stratonice, the vast majority of which form part of the great corpus of his drawings in Montauban.²  In spite of this and Ingres’ prodigious graphic output, only one drawing relating to the figure of Antiochus has appeared on the art market in recent years,³ though this was notably executed on a significantly smaller scale than the present work.

^1. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Inv. no. 1966.13; Musée Condé, Inv. no. PE 432; Private Collection, Philadelphia; Musée Fabre, Montpellier, Inv. no. 844.1.1

^2. See G. Vigne, Dessins d'Ingres, Catalogue raisonné des dessins du musée de Montauban, Paris, 1995, pp. 23-41, nos. 37-151 

^3. Sale, London, Sotheby’s, 9 July 2014, lot 145 (£13,750)