Paul DELAROCHE (1797-1856) The Coronation of Charlemagne Oil on paper laid down on canvas signed in point form lower right 36.5 x 50 cm Provenance : Former collection of M. le Baron Jules de HAUFF, Brussels (label on the back, and red wax stamp with the Baron's arms on the stretcher) Sale "Collection de M. Le Baron J. de HAUFF", Hôtel Drouot, 13 March 1877, under no. 9, presented as a project for a painting for the Musée de Versailles and having formed part of the sale after the death of Paul DELAROCHE: "the arrangement is sumptuous, full of pomp and bustle. The tumultuous group of conch-ringers descending the staircase to the right of the altar in a jumble is a delightful decorative find, and the whole forms a pyramid according to the laws of monumental bas-relief" (extract from the preface to the 1877 sale catalogue by Émile BERGERAT).