François PERRIER (Pontarlier, 1590 - Paris, 1650) The Holy Family on a Temple Step and a Holy Woman Black pencil, ink wash and pen on cut paper with tiling Signed 'P. testa fecit.' in pen and brown ink lower left and 'testa fecit' in pencil in the centre The holy familly on a step of the temple and a holy woman, black chalk, ink wash and pen, signed, by F. Perrier 10.39 x 8.81 in. 26.4 x 22.4 x 0 cm Provenance: Henry Hamal Collection, Liège, his mark (L.1231) on verso ; Ralph Holland Collection (according to an entry in the Eric Coatalem gallery catalogue); Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: Works on paper and Sketches, Paris, galerie Eric Coatalem, 2014 Many French artists travelled to Rome in the 1630s and 1640s.1 Like his illustrious colleagues Nicolas Poussin, Valentin de Boulogne and Simon Vouet, François Perrier went to Rome for the first time around 1623-1624 after attending Horace Le Blanc's studio in Lyon. The Eternal City brought together talented artists in a spirit of emulation and cultural and artistic effervescence that encouraged commissions. Once there, François Perrier obtained a place in Giovanni Lanfranco's workshop and took part in the master's major projects. He undoubtedly rubbed shoulders with his compatriots Simon Vouet and Charles Mellin, as well as the engraver Claude Mellan. Between 1628 and 1634, he returned to France and worked on the La Chartreuse project for Horace Le Blanc, before moving to Paris, where he collaborated with Simon Vouet and opened a studio where he welcomed Charles Le Brun and Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy. He then returned to Rome between 1634/35 and 1645 and published two books of etchings after Antiquity and a suite after Raphael's frescoes in the Villa Farnesina. On his return to France, he was commissioned to paint altarpieces and decorations such as the Cabinet des Muses at the Hôtel Lambert. Here we can see François Perrier's preferred technique of pen, brown ink and brown wash. To model the drapery, give volume to his figures and create areas of light and shadow, Perrier used a network of hatchings in his pen - echoing his work as an engraver - as well as flat areas of wash. The exchange of glances is highlighted by the diagonal formed by the four figures seen slightly da sotto in su. They are standing on steps at the entrance to an antique-style architecture, a setting that can be seen on another sheet in the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart (inv. no. 6128). Both the tiling and the cut-outs on the sheet bear witness to Perrier's creative process. It is probably a preparatory study for an altarpiece that we have not yet identified. Borrowings from the art of Giovanni Lanfranco are notable in both technique and composition. One example is the sheet depicting the martyrdom of Saint Thomas in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (no. 56.219.4), which was preparatory to a decoration for the Santi Apostoli church in Naples. 1 A well-known and well-documented phenomenon, this wave of migration has been studied in particular by Jacques Thuillier, "'Il se rendit en Italie.... notes sur le voyage à Rome des artistes français au XVIIe siècle", in "Etudes d'histoire de l'art offerte à André Chastel", Paris, Rome, 1987, pp. 321-336. François PERRIER (Pontarlier, 1590 - Paris, 1650) 26.4 x 22.4 x 0 cm Many French artists travelled to Rome in the 1630s and 1640s.1 Like his illustrious colleagues Nicolas Poussin, Valentin de Boulogne and Simon Vouet, François Perrier went to Rome for the first time around 1623-1624 after attending Horace Le Blanc's studio in Lyon. The Eternal City brought together talented artists in a spirit of emulation and cultural and artistic effervescence that encouraged commissions. Once there, François Perrier obtained a place in Giovanni Lanfranco's workshop and took part in the master's major projects. He undoubtedly rubbed shoulders with his compatriots Simon Vouet and Charles Mellin, as well as the engraver Claude Mellan. Between 1628 and 1634, he returned to France and worked on the La Chartreuse project for Horace Le Blanc, before moving to Paris, where he collaborated with Simon Vouet and opened a studio where he welcomed Charles Le Brun and Charles-Alphonse Dufresnoy. He then returned to Rome between 1634/35 and 1645 and published two books of etchings after Antiquity and a suite after Raphael's frescoes in the Villa Farnesina. On his return to France, he was commissioned to paint altarpieces and decorations such as the Cabinet des Muses at the Hôtel Lambert. Here we can see François Perrier's preferred technique of pen, brown ink and brown wash. To model the drapery, give volume to his figures and create areas of light and shadow, Perrier used a network of hatchings in his pen - echoing his work as an engraver - as well as flat areas of wash. The exchange of glances is highlighted by the diagonal formed by the four figures seen slightly da sotto in su. They are standing on steps at the entrance to an antique-style architecture, a setting that can be seen on another sheet in the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart (inv. no. 6128). Both the tiling and the cut-outs on the sheet bear witness to Perrier's creative process. It is probably a preparatory study for an altarpiece that we have not yet identified. Borrowings from the art of Giovanni Lanfranco are notable in both technique and composition. One example is the sheet depicting the martyrdom of Saint Thomas in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (no. 56.219.4), which was preparatory to a decoration for the Santi Apostoli church in Naples. 1 A well-known and well-documented phenomenon, this wave of migration has been studied in particular by Jacques Thuillier, "'Il se rendit en Italie.... notes sur le voyage à Rome des artistes français au XVIIe siècle", in "Etudes d'histoire de l'art offerte à André Chastel", Paris, Rome, 1987, pp. 321-336.