Louis-François Cassas
Archaeologists examining a bas-relief with a view of the Acropolis, Athens, behind
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Louis François Cassas
(Azay-le-Ferron 1756 - 1827 Versailles)
Archaeologists examining a bas-relief with a view of the Acropolis, Athens, behind
Pen and black ink and watercolor;
signed and dated, lower right: L.F. Cassas 1821
535 by 795 mm; 21 by 31¼ in. (sight size)
With Galerie L’Estranger, Paris, where purchased by the present owner in 2000
Exactly when Cassas visited Greece is not known, but it was probably between 1786 - his departure from Constantinople - and 1787, when he returned to Rome.
In this large and impressive watercolor, we see in the foreground a group of Grand Tour travellers in Athens, conversing in front of the Philopappos Monument, while in the background the Acropolis, topped by the Parthenon, rises impressively from the plain below, where the remains of Herod Atticus' Odeon theatre can be seen. A number of the drawings that Cassas made during his travels provided the basis for illustrations to the 1816 publication, Grandes vues pittoresques des principaux sites et monumens de la Grèce et de la Sicile, et des sept collines de Rome, dessinées et gravées à l'eau-forte, au trait, par MM. Cassas et Bence ; accompagnées d'une explication des monuments, par M. C.P. Landon1.
A version of the present view was sold at Christie’s, Paris, 22 March 2017, lot 49.
See also the previous lot.
1.Louis-Cassas, 1756-1827. Dessinateur, voyageur, exhib. cat., Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1995, pp.109-112
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