19th century French school after original models from 1780-1 - Lot 285

19th century French school after original models from 1780-1790 -A Dead Man Resurrected by the Touching of the Bones of the Prophet Elisha -Joseph sold by his brothers after an original model by Antoine Denis Chaudet -The Judgment of Solomon -Abimelech returns Sara to Abraham with gifts Set of four bas-reliefs in patinated plaster Dimensions between H. 111/116 and W.148/155 cm Accidents and restorations Provenance: Bouthemard collection Related works : -Antoine Denis Chaudet, Joseph vendu par ses frères, 1784, plaster with terracotta patina, H. 116, L. 145 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Inv. N 16063- - François Frederic Lemot, The Judgment of Solomon. Plaster bas-relief, H 131 ; L.153 cm, MU 4342 Dépôt réglementaire Elève de l'École, École des Beaux-Arts, Paris Related literature : - Anatole de Montaiglon, Société de l'histoire de l'art français, Procès-verbaux de l'Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture, Tome 9: 1780-1788 d'après les registres originaux conservés à l'École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Société de l'histoire de l'art français and Charavay Frères, 1889. - Anatole de Montaiglon, Société de l'histoire de l'art français, Procès-verbaux de l'Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture, Tome 10: 1789-1793 d'après les registres originaux conservés à l'École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Société de l'histoire de l'art français and Charavay Frères, 1892. - Jules Guiffrey, Liste des pensionnaires de l'Académie de France à Rome: donnant les noms de tous les artistes récompensés dans les concours du Prix de Rome de 1663 à 1907, Paris, Institut de France, 1908 This set of four patinated plaster reliefs presents complex and erudite iconographic subjects from the Old Testament: A Dead Man resurrected by touching the bones of the prophet Elisha, the Judgment of Solomon, Abimelech returns Sara to Abraham with gifts, Joseph sold by his brothers. Our knowledge of the original of this last subject, preserved in the Musée du Louvre, allows us to put forward a solid hypothesis concerning the context in which these plaster copies were made. It corresponds to the subject of the 1784 Grand Prix de sculpture won by Antoine Denis Chaudet. Given the similarity of the compositions and the homogeneity of the subjects, it is possible that the other three casts were taken from works submitted by artists for other Prix de Rome competitions, whether winners or not. The list of competition subjects tells us that Death Raised by the Touching of the Bones of the Prophet Elisha was submitted in 1783 and won by Auguste Félix Fortin, but the original work is unknown today. The Judgment of Solomon corresponds to the theme of the 1790 competition. The winning work was created by François Frédéric Lemot and is conserved at the École des Beaux-Arts, but the model does not correspond to our iconography. Finally, the theme Abimelech returns Sara to Abraham with gifts was the subject of the 1791 competition, won by Pierre Charles Bridan. This original work is also unknown.