165 - Charles Joseph NATOIRE (1700–1777)

Charles Joseph NATOIRE (1700–1777) Diane on the Crescent Moon, ca. 1723–1728 red chalk on paper 253 x 194 mm (oval) Monogrammed lower left: "C.N." Inscription on the reverse of the original mount: "From the collection of Chevalier de Dameri / Charles Natoire inv' fecit" Provenance Collection of Chevalier de Damery (?–c. 1803?), according to the inscription on the reverse (his mark, Lugt ed. 1921, 2862), Possibly from his posthumous sale, Paris, November 18, 1803, part of lot no. 49 or part of lot no. 78; Paris, private collection. Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, June 28, 1982, lot no. 142; London, Adolphe Stein, 1983; Private collection. Bibliography Susanna Caviglia-Brunel, *Charles Joseph Natoire*, Paris, Arthena, 2012, p. 184, D. 49 This drawing is described as a black chalk drawing—likely based on a photograph—by Susanna Caviglia-Brunel in her catalog raisonné devoted to the artist. She classifies it among the painter’s early works. Although mythological subjects constitute the largest portion of the artist’s output during his years in Paris, they are, in contrast, quite rare at the beginning of his career. Like other drawings from the same period, this drawing appears to be a simple compositional exercise.