Jean-Baptiste SAMBAT (Paris, circa 1760 - Lyon, 1827) Philippe-François-Nazaire Fabre d'Eglantine (1755-1794) holding a page annotated 'Le Phili / de / Molie'. Watercolour and gum arabic on ivory, oval form Signed 'Sambat' lower right CIC n° 2024/BE01792/CE Empire period rectangular frame in chased and gilt bronze on a burnished wood base Inscribed 'Fabre d'Eglantine / Phillippe françois Nazaire / Député a ??, Aisn / né à Carcassonne le 28 X 1755 / mort à Paris le 5 avril 1794 / Marié à / Godin (Marie Nicole) / (à Strasbourg) / Miniature par ? Sambat' on verso 6 x 4.8 cm Provenance: Galerie Jaegy-Theoleyre, Paris ; Pierre Jourdan-Barry Collection (1926-2016); Then by descent; Private collection, Belgium Exhibitions : Probably Salon des artistes libres de la rue de Cléry in 1791 Bibliography: Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard, Les Peintres en miniature actifs en France 1650-1850, Paris, 2008, p. 455 Molière's Philinte, or Suite du Misanthrope, is a comedy in five acts and verse, written and performed successfully in Paris in 1791. It was the greatest success - we might even say the only success - of this actor and playwright, who would probably not have gone down in history had he not found in the turmoil of the revolutionary period an unexpected opportunity to finally make a name for himself. His ideals and partisan actions brought him to the pinnacle of power, and then to the guillotine. Our miniature shows the author proud of his play, holding his libretto in his hand. It was most likely painted in the year of its success, 1791. A portrait of the model by Sambat appeared that year at the Salon in the rue de Cléry; it is probably our miniature. Like his model, Sambat was an enthusiastic and committed revolutionary. Jean-Baptiste SAMBAT (Paris, circa 1760 - Lyon, 1827) 6 x 4.8 cm