ATTRIBUTED TO LOUIS-JEAN DESPREZ (AUXERRE, 1743-STOCKHOLM 1804) FÊTE DONNÉE À TIVOLI Gouache Bears a signature and date on lower right: Despres-invenit et fecit/Rome 1776 Attr. to L.J. Desprez, Feast in Tivoli, gouache, bears a signature and a date on the lower right: Despres-invenit et fecit/Rome 1776 49,5 x 69,5 cm - 19,5 x 27,4 in. Louis Jean Desprez (1743-1804), a native of Auxerre, was initially destined for architecture. He studied at the Royal Academy, became a professor at the Military School and finally won the Prix de Rome in 1776. He then arrived in Italy, where he was commissioned to paint views for the Voyage pittoresque by the Abbé de Saint Non, and made a name for himself with his gifts for topographical observation. As part of the Grand Tour, he visited Naples, Herculamun, Pompeii and Tivoli. The Villa d'Este, built in the 16th century, is depicted with the remarkable precision inherited from his training as an architect. The building is seen from the water theatre with the castle in oblique perspective. The path of the fountains creates a water feature on the right that softens the Palladian rigidity of the building. The left side of this composition is known from a drawing in the Stockholm Museum. To this observation on the motif, figures are added and above all a colouring that depicts the festive atmosphere that seems to reign at the Villa d'Este. The Feast at the Villa d'Este in Tivoli is a subject that is known in Desprez's work through engraving. Indeed, he was associated with Francesco Piranesi, son of Giovanni Battista, who engraved his great compositions of Italian views which were then watercoloured by the painter from Auxerre. The Great Festival of the Villa d'Este is distinguished from the other compositions by its cheerful character: musicians give a concert at the foot of the fountains, banquets are set up and the guests stroll through the gardens. In the second half of the 18th century, however, the Este family could no longer afford such opulence, since the antiques adorning the gardens and the furniture decorating the villa were sold in 1751 and the castle became the property of the Habsburgs in 1796 thanks to an alliance. Noticed by the different European courts for his talent, Desprez put himself in the service of King Gustav III of Sweden in the 1780's. He served as his guide in Italy, and in particular in Tivoli, as illustrated by a painting representing the monarch contemplating the picturesque waterfalls for which this place is famous, a work also preserved in Stockholm. For the king, Desprez made a career in Sweden where he created, among other things, sumptuous sceneries for the Opera, thus reviving the festive atmosphere he seemed to be so fond of for our composition. BIBLIOGRAPHY Wollin, Nils Gustaf, Desprez in Italy: topographical and architectural drawings, theatre sceneries and romantic compositions, executed in 1777-1784. A.-B. Malmö Ljustrycksanstalt. 1935. p. 169 Wollin, Nils Gustaf, Original engravings by Desprez or executed after drawings, J. Kroon. A.-B. Malmö Ljustrycksanstalt.1933. p. 115 Gondard Claude, L'histoire de la gravure et les collections de l'École polytechnique, Bulletin de la Société des Amis de la Bibliothèque et de l'histoire de l'École polytechnique. 47 - 2010. p. 43-53.