66. 66W Michel Corneille le Jeune (Paris 1642-1708) Allegory of philosophy oil on canvas oil on canvas 113.6 x 162.2cm (44 3/4 x 63 7/8in). Provenance Private collection, France The present lot is a rediscovered painting by Michel Corneille the Younger (1642-1708) which has remained in the same French family for decades. Corneille was one of the leading painters of the French classical tradition and a prominent figure in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Trained in the French classical manner, he was also influenced by the Italianate style of the Carracci and was celebrated for his allegorical and decorative works, many executed to royal commissions, most notably at the Palace of Versailles. This painting represents a second version of Corneille's celebrated Aspasie au milieu des philosophes de la Grèce, commissioned by Louis XIV in 1672 for the eastern vault of the Queen's Salon des Nobles at the Palace of Versailles (INV 3339 BIS F). While the Versailles painting presents a harmonious arrangement of figures in a monumental format, the present version introduces subtle variations in composition and iconography, reflecting the artist's exploration of alternative spatial and narrative solutions. These differences reveal Corneille's methodical approach to allegorical painting and his concern with clarity, balance, and expressive nuance. Two preparatory drawings by the artist for the present work, in the Staedel Museum, Frankfurt (inv. 1060 Z) and the Weimar Museum (inv. KK 8727) reveal his compositional planning and careful study of figural interactions.