View of the Park at Versailles: Fishing in Pond Near Grove of Trees
Medium
Brush and gray wash, with graphite, on pale green laid paper, squared in graphite for transfer
Dimensions
20 × 14.4 cm (7 7/8 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113749
Art Historical Context
Pierre-Antoine Mongin, a French artist active in the late 18th century and a pupil of the renowned landscape painter Hubert Robert, created this delicate preparatory drawing of Versailles' expansive park. Titled *View of the Park at Versailles: in Pond Near Grove of*, it captures a serene moment amid the grandeur of King Louis XIV's opulent gardens—designed by André Le Nôtre—with figures fishing in a pond framed by a grove of trees. The undated work evokes the leisurely pursuits enjoyed in these iconic grounds, blending natural beauty with subtle human activity. Rendered in brush and gray was...
About the Artist
Pierre Antoine Mongin · 1761–1827
Pierre-Antoine Mongin (1761–1827) was a prolific French painter, engraver, and designer whose career bridged the late Enlightenment and the Romantic era. Born in Paris, little is known of his early life beyond his formal training at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture from 1782 to 1785, where he studied under the esteemed history painters Noël Hallé, Gabriel-François Doyen, and Françoi...