Étienne Parrocel (1696-1775), Judith handing the head of Holofernes to a servant, red chalk, brush and brown wash, white highlights on paper prepared with ochre, sun watermark in a circle, with inscription IB , 36.7x26 cm Provenance: Bemberg Collection Bemberg Collection "The Bembergs, a family straddling two continents with an international vision, share all the hallmarks and codes of the high society to which they belong body and soul: education, refinement, a diversity of interests, the importance attached to alliances and family networks, and an undeniable business sense that does not prevent them from having a real taste for culture and beautiful things. Tristan Gaston-Breton, Les Bemberg de 1927 à 2013 , 2014, ed. El Viso, Madrid, p.151 The Bemberg family is a family of great Argentine industrialists of German origin, whose members have distinguished themselves as company founders, politicians, diplomats, artists and collectors. The family established itself in Argentina in 1852 under the impetus of Otto Bemberg (1827-1895), who divided his time between Argentina and Paris, where he was appointed consul in 1862. Under his leadership, the family set up the Quilmes brewery in 1890, which went on to produce the country's most popular beer. Other members of the family distinguished themselves in the arts or music, such as Maria Luisa Bemberg (1922-1995), a director and committed feminist who made a name for herself in the world of Argentine cinema and opened it up to women. First cousin of the father of the current owners of the items in this catalogue, Georges Bemberg (1915-2011), was also an illustrious member of the family. A Harvard graduate and man of letters, he was introduced to art by his uncles and acquired a gouache by Picasso in his twenties. His love of art and his need to surround himself with beautiful things led him to become one of the great collectors of the twentieth century. He accumulated works from the fifteenth to the twentieth century, including Cranach, Veronese, Tiepolo, Vigée Le Brun, Bonnard, Degas, Matisse, Modigliani and Monet. grouped together in his foundation, now housed in the Hôtel d'Assézat in Toulouse, one of the city's most famous monuments. His masterpieces were also presented at the Fondation de l'Hermitage in Lausanne in 2021. ETIENNE PARROCEL (1696-1775): Important group of 19 drawings (lots 2636 to 2654) from the Bemberg collection. Étienne Parrocel, known as le Romain, born in Avignon on 8 January 1696, was the son of the painter Jacques-Ignace Parrocel (1667-1722). He worked with his uncle Pierre (1670-1739). He moved to Rome in 1727 and spent his entire career there. He produced numerous paintings for the churches of Rome and his native Provence. This group of nineteen pen and wash drawings heightened with white gouache on paper often prepared in ochre or rose is an important addition to his drawing oeuvre, which is best known for a large number of figure studies in black stone (see, for example, Christie's sale, Monaco, 30 June 1995, no.67-82). However, a group of drawings in the same technique and very similar in style is preserved in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille (M.-P. Viale, in Revue du Louvre, 1994, no.5-6). Most of the drawings in these two sets are compositional studies, and most illustrate scenes from the Old Testament. It should be noted that few of them can be linked to paintings that are known today. The Saint-Jean Baptiste désignant le Messie (lot 2640) in this sale is an exception, as it is a preparatory work for a painting now in the Musée Calvet in Avignon. The attribution of this group is confirmed, if it were necessary, by an inscription "Monsieur Etienne Parrocel" which appears on the sheet on which a study of a seated Hercules (lot 2636) is drawn. The artist appears to have made a drawing on an envelope addressed to him. Another drawing, L'Âne de Balaam (Balaam's Donkey), is executed on a printed sheet that is an explanatory note for the engraving representing the first "Machina" for the 1757 Chinea. Every year, the Kingdom of Naples paid a silver tribute to the Pope. Each year, the Kingdom of Naples paid a silver tribute to the Pope, giving rise to a series of festivities for which artists were commissioned to create ephemeral "Machine" decorations. This drawing suggests that the group as a whole dates from relatively late in Étienne Parrocel's career. All lots marked in blue in this catalogue are from the Bemberg collection, see page 19 of this catalogue. We would like to thank Mr Benjamin Peronnet for his help in compiling the catalogue of old drawings.