Allegory of the Glory of Princes
1770/80
Medium
Black chalk, heightened with white on olive paper
Dimensions
52.5 × 39.5 cm (20 11/16 × 15 9/16 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
38180
Art Historical Context
Created around 1770–1780, Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre’s *Allegory of the Glory of Princes* is a striking example of late eighteenth-century French draftsmanship. Executed in black chalk heightened with white on olive paper, the drawing measures just over 20 by 15 inches and exemplifies the refined preparatory studies favored by artists of the period. The olive-toned ground serves as a natural middle value, allowing Pierre to model forms with dramatic contrasts of light and shadow that give the composition a luminous, almost sculptural quality. As its title suggests, the work presents an allego...
About the Artist
Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre · 1713–1789
Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (1714–1789) was born into a prosperous Parisian family of goldsmiths and jewelers; his father, Jean Pierre, became an alderman in 1743, securing noble status for the family. Pierre began his artistic training as a pupil of Nicolas Bertin, followed by study under Charles-Joseph Natoire at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, where he befriended engraver Charle...