Marriage of Heracles and Hebe (Allegorie a L'Hymen, Ou Mariage d'Hercule avec Ompahle)

Marriage of Heracles and Hebe (Allegorie a L'Hymen, Ou Mariage d'Hercule avec Ompahle)

1772
Artist
Louis-Gabriel Moreau
Object
drawing
Medium
Point of brush and gray and black ink wash, brush and brown wash, over graphite, on cream laid paper, ruled border in pen and black ink; laid down on mount laid pasteboard
Accession Number
2019.600
Credit Line
The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
Louis-Gabriel Moreau. Marriage of Heracles and Hebe (Allegorie a L'Hymen, Ou Mariage d'Hercule avec Ompahle). 1772. Point of brush and gray and black ink wash, brush and brown wash, over graphite, on cream laid paper, ruled border in pen and black ink; laid down on mount laid pasteboard. The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection. 2019.600.
Dimensions
height: 10.75 in, 27.3050 cm; width: 7.5 in, 19.0500 cm; frame height: 16 in, 40.6400 cm; frame width: 12.875 in, 32.7025 cm; frame depth: 0.875 in, 2.2225 cm; height: 10.875 in, 27.6225 cm; width: 7.75 in, 19.6850 cm
Inscription
["Signed and dated in pen and brown ink at bottom center, \"L. Moreau . . . fecit 1772.\"","Signed and dated in pen and brown ink at bottom center, L. Moreau... fecit 1772.; inscribed by the artist in cartouche below figural scene in black ink, Agreable union du Courage Vainqueur | Et de la brillante Jeunesse! | Himen, prend ton flambeau des mains de la Tendresse | Et fait ferrer leurs neuds par celles du Bonheur."]
Department
European and American Art Before 1900
Collection
European Painting and Sculpture before 1900
Known Provenance
Private collection, until 1914; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 14, 1914, lot 89; Georges Bottelier-Lasquin, Paris, by 1922 (stamped with his mark at lower left; Lugt 1139a); his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 16–17, 1932, lot 66; Mme Pierre de Chazelles, née Nelly de Vanssay, Paris (stamped with her mark at lower left; Lugt 644a); her sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 21, 1956, lot 22; private collection, France; with Wildenstein, New York; from which acquired by Esmond Bradley Martin [1941–2018], 1978; gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2019.
Exhibition History
  • "Exposition Hubert Robert et Louis Moreau"—Galeries Jean Charpentier, Paris, 1922, no. 150
  • "Recent Acquisitions: Drawings and Small Sculpture for the Young Collector"—Wildenstein, New York, 1978 (no catalogue)
  • "French and Italian Master Drawings from the Collection of Esmond Bradley Martin, Jr."—Denver Art Museum, 1982, exh. cat. by Phyllis Hattis, no. 6, pp. 5, 7, 20–21, repr.
  • "Old Master Paintings and Drawings from Colorado Collections"—The Aspen Art Museum, 07/30/1998 - 09/27/1998, exh. cat. by Timothy J. Standring, 1998, unnumbered, repr. opposite p. 152
  • "Passport to Paris"—Denver Art Museum, 10/27/2013–02/09/2014