Bernard Lépicié's engraving, “Jupiter and Lo”, 1729

Bernard Lépicié (aka François Bernard Lépicié; Bernard L'Epicie; Bernard Lépicier) (1698–1755)

“Jupiter and Lo”, 1729, after Perino del Vaga (aka Piero Buonaccorsi) (1501–1547), formerly (as inscribed on plate) attributed to Giulio Romano (aka Giulio Giannuzzi; Giulio Pippi) (1499–1546), plate 58 (as inscribed on plate) from the series of 140 plates commissioned by Pierre Crozat (1665–1740) to reproduce “famous paintings and drawings of the era” (see BM no. 1907,1121.14 for a discussion of this series), “Recueil d'estampes d'après les plus beaux tableaux et d'après les plus beaux desseins qui sont en France” (Collection of prints from the most beautiful paintings and the most beautiful designs that are in France) (aka “Recueil Crozat”; “Cabinet Crozat”) published in 1729.

Regarding the attribution of the original design of this plate, the Curator of the British Museum offers the following insight:

“The first of five plates from the 'Cabinet Crozat' … after the cartoons of the 'Loves of Jupiter'. These used to be attributed to Giulio Romano, and were first recognised as being Perino's documented designs of c.1531/2 for the tapestries in the salone di Giove in the Palazzo Doria in Genoa by Davidson in 1988” (see BM no. 1855,0609.138).

Engraving with etching on heavy laid paper with wide margins as published and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 53.7 x 41 cm; (plate) 35 x 31 cm; (image borderline) 26.6 x 27.6 cm.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (centre) “Jupiter et Lo./ d'Après le Carton de Jules Romain, qui est dans le Cabinet de Monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans/ haut de 8. pieds, 6. pouces, large de 8. pieds 11. pouces, gravé par Bernard L'Epicier”; (right corner) “58”.

IFF, vol. XIV, no. 13, p. 373 (Département des Estampes 1930, “Inventaire du Fonds, Français: graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale); LeBl. 8 (Charles Le Blanc 1854, “Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant un dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations : ouvrage destiné à faire suite au Manuel du libraire par J.Ch. Brunet”, Paris).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Jupiter reaching forward towards the nymph Io, after the cartoon by Perino del Vaga for the tapestries of the Loves of Jupiter.”

(https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3221014&page=5&partId=1&peoA=123436-2-23&people=123436)

See also the description of this print offered by Harvard Art Museums:

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/237979?position=4

Condition: well-printed early impression with full margins (as published?). There are a few small tears to the margin edges of the sheet otherwise it is in excellent condition and laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.

I am selling this superbly executed engraving showing Jupiter’s seduction (manhandling) of the lovely Lo before she “transformed into a beautiful heifer and wandered the world, tormented by a gadfly” (as explained in the BM’s biography for Lo), for AU$205 (currently US$139.34/EUR126.40/GBP108.42 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this mythological scene rendered with sublime skill—note, for example, how the engraver is able to describe the slightly darker skin tone of Jupiter’s tanned body compared to Lo’s paleness and how the skin of the figures is slightly more matte than the sheen of the eagle’s feathers that Lo rests her hand upon (mindful that the eagle is a symbol of Jupiter)—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Lépicié’s engraving “Le Bénédicité”, after Chardin

Bernard Lépicié (aka François Bernard Lépicié; Bernard L'Epicie; Bernard Lépicier) (1698–1755)

“Le Bénédicité” (The Grace), 1744, after a painting by Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699–1779), published by Louis Surugue (c.1686–1762)

Engraving (with etching), trimmed to the image borderline, on heavy laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 36.8 x 25.3 cm

Lettered with names of designer and etcher, date, title, four verses in French, inscription giving the provenance of the original painting, and publication addresses: “à Paris chez Lépicié (...) au coin de l'Abreuvoir du Quay des Orfevres” and “chez L. Surugue (...) ruë des Noyers vis à vis le mur de St. Yves”.

Bocher 1876 5.II (Bocher, Emmanuel, Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin: catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1876); IFF 70 (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes, Paris, 1930)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Saying grace, after Chardin; domestic interior with woman serving soup to her two children sitting at a table, the youngest saying the grace.” The curator of the British Museum also advises that this print is after “a painting by Chardin shown at the Salon in 1740, formerly in the collection of Louis XV, and now in the Musée du Louvre (Paris). A pair to 'La mère laborieuse'.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1361143&partId=1&searchText=chardin+Lepicie&page=1)

Condition: rare impression, trimmed to the image borderline, with small surface abrasions and light staining. Beyond these issues, the sheet is clean and in good condition (i.e. there are no tears, folds or holes).

I am selling this rare 1744 original engraving of domestic bliss by Lépicié after Chardin for a total cost of [deleted] including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this charming and delicately executed print, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print is no longer available

Beyond being famous for his translations of Chardin’s paintings into delicate etched and engraved lines—such as this superb example—Lépicié was also a poet. Like most poets struggling to find an audience, Lépicié clearly saw an opportunity to make the meaning of Chardin’s composition unambiguous with a few lines of poetry inscribed below the image:

“La Soeru, en tapinois, se rit du petit frere / Qui bégaie son oraison, / Lui, sans s’ínquiéter, dépêche sa priere, / Son apétit fait sa raison. Lépicié” (Google Translation: "Sister, stealthily, laughs at the little brother / Who stutters his prayer, / He, without worry, dispatches his prayer, / His frighten its raison. Lépicié ")

Although this print is the same as the copy in the British Museum with the attribution to Bernard Lépicié, the Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery has another copy with the name, “Rene Elizabeth Marie Lepicie” inscribed on the plate (lower right). Interestingly, the Hunterian Museum proposes: “Lépicié's interpretation of Saying Grace was one of the most popular prints of the century." (http://www.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/cgi-bin/foxweb/huntsearch/DetailedResults.fwx?collection=all&searchTerm=933&mdaCode=GLAHA).

Regarding the popularity of this famous print, Archibald Younger (1913) in “French Engravers of the 18^th Century” makes the bold assessment: “… difficult as it must have been to reproduce in black and white the life with which his [Chardin’s] pictures were imbued … in Lépicié’s beautiful plate of ‘Le Benedicite’ … the engraver’s art may be said to have now almost reached its zenith “(p. xiii).