album;
drawing
- Museum number
- 1871,0812.869
- Description
-
Caricature of Baron de Montesquieu; head and shoulders, seen in profile, facing left; with a protruding nose and wearing a curly wig.
Pen and brown ink
- Production date
- 1730-1740
- Dimensions
-
Height: 70 millimetres (sheet)
-
Width: 94 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- See curatorial comment for 1871,0812.818.
A related full length caricature of Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755) is in the Vatican Library, Codice Ottoboniano Latino 3116, c. 62 (see Maria Cristina Dorati da Empoli, 'Pier Leone Ghezzi. Un protagonista del Settecento Romano', Rome 2008, p. 234 and digivatlib.it), dated 12 July 1729. As well as in the present inscription, Ghezzi there refers to the sitter as ‘Le President di Francia’, but he later makes an addition in another pen inserting “Montascu” after ‘President’. See also Sotheby’s London, 10 December 1979, lot 135 (‘Caricatures Drawings by Pier Leone Ghezzi. The Property of The Rt. Hon. Lord Braybrooke’).
Montesquieu was in Rome in 1729 as part of a belated educational Grand Tour and Ghezzi is likely to have come across him with Cardinal Melchior de Polignac (q.v.), to whom the artist was close. The Vatican caricature and inscription gives an insight on Ghezzi’s possible methods of recording his sitters: the artist states Montesquieu left Rome on June 29th 1729 and that he made the drawing on July 12th. It is therefore likely that Ghezzi based the full-length caricature on a previously made sketch, such as for example the present one. At the end of 1729 Montesquieu was in London where he remained until 1731.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1871
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1871,0812.869
