Jean-Jacques François I LE BARBIER (Rouen 1738-1826 Paris) - Lot 10

Jean-Jacques François I LE BARBIER (Rouen 1738-1826 Paris) Allegory in honor of the late Madame la Dauphine, Marie-Josèphe de Saxe (1731-1767), set in an architectural oval, with a cartouche of dedication "to Monseigneur le Dauphin", future Louis XVI Pen and black ink, wash and watercolor on two sheets of paper (the second making up the lower 6.5 cm.) 60 x 43.5 cm Signed and dated at the bottom of the oval: Le Barbier invenit 1767, Annotated on the stele: Te maeae si partem animae rapit maturior vis quid moror altera ? [If a more mature desire tears away part of your soul, why should I linger on the other side?] At the bottom, a long annotation, probably in the artist's hand: The background of the painting represents the temple of immortality. The architectural layout of this edifice is that of the Doric order dedicated to heroes. Suspended from the columns of this temple are medallions of illustrious women who were able to survive the loss of their husbands. Among these medallions, glory places that of Mme la Dauphine with this inscription: tot inter sidera fulget. The tomb of this princess, victim of conjugal love, occupies the front of the painting, to hide the horror of this funereal monument from us. Lovers spread flowers and cover it with a cloud, revealing only the inscription engraved there by the hymen, while religion and charity, symbolizing the virtues of the princess we mourn, weep over her mausoleum. Renowned for her intelligence, gentleness and uprightness, Marie-Josèphe de Saxe and Louis XV's only son formed a couple whose beginnings were difficult, but which became very harmonious. As the Dauphin died prematurely in 1765, Marie-Josèphe never became queen. On the contrary, trials did not spare her, and the "sad Pepa", as her father-in-law the king called her, having contracted her husband's disease, followed the Dauphin to the grave, leaving behind five orphans. She was the offspring of the last four Kings of France.