Charles-Joseph NATOIRE Nîmes, 1700 - Castel Gandolfo, 1777 Study of nymphs for the décor of the Hôtel de Soubise Black pencil and white chalk on formerly blue paper (Uneven edges, holes, stains) Without frame Study of the nymphs, black pencil, white chalk on paper formerly blue, by C. J. Natoire 33 x 45 cm (12.99 x 17.72 in.) Provenance: Probably from the Vanière collection, according to an inscription on the reverse; Collection Émile Chambon (Genève, 1905 - Collonge-Bellerive, 1993), painter, Genève ; Private European collection Bibliography: Susanna Caviglia, 'Charles-Joseph Natoire, 1700-1777', Paris, 2012, p. 284, D. 265 Comment: This sheet contains two studies by Natoire for the story of Psyche, a cycle of eight overdoors which adorned the oval salon of the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris. This was the decoration for the first-floor parade flat of Princess Marie-Sophie de Courcillon, the new wife of Prince Hercule-Mériadec de Rohan. The figure on the right is a preparatory study for the nymph seated on the right in 'Les nymphes recevant Psyché au palais de l'Amour', the painting to the left of the mantelpiece. Identified by Susanna Caviglia in an e-mail dated 4 January 2005, the figure on the left is a preparatory study for Venus in 'Psyché punie par ordre de Vénus', a composition known only from a drawing in Montpellier (fig. 1) (Musée Atger, inv. MA 17). Also conceived for the Histoire de Psyché in the Hôtel Soubise, the scene was not chosen in the end. The Musée Eugène Boudin in Honfleur holds a preparatory study for the same figure (inv. 37.1.122).