27 - Laurent de La Hyre (1606–1656)

Laurent de La Hyre (1606–1656) The Holy Family Served by Angels with the Overturned Basket. 1640. Etching. 412 x 300 [485 x 345 mm]. Robert-Dumesnil, Duplessis, I.F.F. 5; Rosenberg and Thuillier 175. A very fine print on laid paper from the first state (of 3) according to Duplessis as well as Rosenberg and Thuillier, showing the Virgin with her legs extended forward, prior to the replacement of Langlois’s signature with that of Mariette the Younger. Small pencil annotation “187” in the lower margin. A small hole and some noticeable thinning in the lower margin on the reverse. All margins intact. Provenance: P. de Baudicour (unmarked), with a handwritten pencil annotation at the bottom: “... 1st state”; sale of the collection of the dealer Henri Baderou (3rd sale at Drouot, without catalog, June 26, 1996). AABM stamp (Lugt 3075). Robert-Dumesnil, for his part, had never encountered a proof in which the Virgin’s legs were stretched forward. Duplessis had described this state, and Rosenberg and Thuillier reproduce for the first time a proof of this first state, to which they devote a paragraph that clearly emphasizes its rarity: "In the first state, La Hyre had drawn the Virgin seated on the stone block, both legs stretched out in front of her. The pose had a certain realism to it, and above all, an unusual quality. It must have been criticized, no doubt in the name of decency. The artist corrected his plate, and so carefully that the retouching is undetectable. It had even escaped Robert-Dumesnil’s notice. It is true that the first state, obviously printed in very few copies, has become extremely rare. We did not find it at the National Library. Here, La Hyre depicts one of those children’s games so beloved in the seventeenth century, of which Brébiette had left so many examples in his engravings. [...] We must not forget that the date 1640 marks the birth, on March 18, of Philippe, La Hyre’s first child. Paternal sentiment seems to have been given free rein here at the expense of more serious reflections... The technique has become even more refined; the prominence given to stippling and “grignotis” further enhances the visual pleasure, thanks to the variety of engraving sizes. [...] This simple engraving ranks among the masterpieces of French printmaking and among La Hyre’s most accomplished works. " (Pierre Rosenberg and Jacques Thuillier, *Laurent de La Hyre, 1606–1656: The Man and His Work*, Paris: Skira, p. 223).