MERRY-JOSEPH BLONDEL (Paris 1781-1853) DIANE ON HER CHARIOT Original canvas, tondo Signed with the brushstroke lower right and on the reverse "BLS5". Diana on her chariot, original canvas, tondo DIAM : 37 CM - 14,6 IN. PROVENANCE : Sale from the artist's studio on 12 December 1853, n°16: "Esquisse pour le plafond de Diane à Fontainebleau" (Sketch for the ceiling of Diana at Fontainebleau). The Restoration continued the renovation of the Château de Fontainebleau begun under the Empire. Napoleon had the Gallery of Diana rebuilt, and Louis XVIII commissioned Blondel and his friend Abel de Pujol to decorate the vault in 1820. The episodes in the story of the huntress goddess are taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Our painting is the painter's first draft, in preparation for the central compartment of the gallery ceiling. The subject of the latter was described at the time of its presentation at the Salon of 1822 in the following terms: "Diana, on her chariot, is surrounded by Zephyrs who seek to hide her from mortal eyes by enveloping her in the veil of Night. Love, hidden among them, directs his course towards Endymion". The Château de Fontainebleau holds another sketch for this composition. Both works are mentioned in the studio sale (they also have similar frames, probably by the same framer), ours under no. 16, the one in Fontainebleau under no. 7. The latter, which is closer to the final version, has a few variations from our painting: it differs in the number of cherubs on either side of the chariot, the colour of the harness (white rather than red), and the different positions of the figure's right leg, hands and reindeer heads. Other changes include the appearance of the owl, the scarf on the left putto, and the addition of stars around it, which are not present here.