ATTRIBUTED TO FRANÇOIS PERRIER | ALLEGORY OF THE FOUR SEASONS

With P. D. Colgnaghi & Sons, London (as François Perrier);

With Dickinson Roundell Inc., New York;

There acquired in 1999 (as Attributed to Nicolas Loir). 

The attribution of this remarkable and dynamic Allegory of the Four Seasons has continued to elude scholars, though a number place it close to François Perrier. In beautiful condition and painted in deep, vibrant tones, the composition includes four elements that allude to each season: the fire and figure keeping warm under a cloak lower left (Winter); the central putti with flowers and the lactating goddess above (Spring); a pair of putti with harvested hay lower right (Summer); and in the central foreground a satyr with a laurel wreath and grapes (Autumn).