33 - Edouard PINGRET (Saint-Quentin, 1788–1875)

Edouard PINGRET (Saint-Quentin, 1788–1875) View of the Château de Moÿ-sur-Aisne Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right on the stone: Edouard / Pingret 19. 54 x 65 cm Located in the northern part of the Aisne department between Saint-Quentin and Laon, Moÿ Castle, first mentioned in the 11th century, was rebuilt in the late 14th century by Goulard de Moÿ in a feudal style and was destroyed on February 19, 1917, by the German army. Several notable owners succeeded one another: the Moÿ family (15th–16th centuries), the Goulard, Colard, and Charles families (the Marquis of Moÿ under Henry IV), and the House of Lorraine-Ligne; acquired by the financier Antoine Crozat, then occupied by his heirs, the Brienne, Luçay, and Boufflers families. Colonel Buron de Galbois, owner of the castle between 1817 and 1835, is likely one of the two figures depicted on the left in our painting A rare and reliable visual record of the building before its destruction, an engraving by Édouard Pingret from 1820 depicts the same subject, but from the opposite bank of the moat. This engraving shows the facade on the opposite side from the one depicted in our painting, facing the chapel adjacent to the estate. We note that the artist incorporates several elements from his painting into this engraving, such as the group of two walkers facing a groom accompanied by a horse, as well as a fisherman sitting by the water’s edge. Born into a relatively wealthy family, Pingret trained under Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Baptiste Régnault, two Neoclassical painters, then at the Academy of Saint-Luc in Rome, and began exhibiting at the Salon in 1810. Appointed professor of fine arts in his hometown of Saint-Quentin, he was a traveling painter who, each summer, visited a different region to depict local customs and traditional dress—first in Switzerland, then in Italy and the Pyrenees (1833). This work resulted in collections of color plates, such as *Costumes of the Pyrenees* in 1834. In 1850, he sought inspiration in Mexico, where he exhibited at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and painted several portraits of local dignitaries. A contemporary engraving of the castle will be presented to the buyer.