Louis-Joseph LE LORRAIN (1715 - 1759): Shield of Hercules and Shield of Aeneas - 1756

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Price: € 2500 (2 plates)

Pair of etchings, 248 x 212 mm each. IFF 15 and 16.

Very rare impressions, before any letter for the Shield of Aeneas and before the addition of various inscriptions on the Shield of Hercules (notably the inscription Pl. II Hist. de l'Acad. des Bell. Lettr. [...]).

Very fine impressions printed on laid paper. Small marginal tears on the plate of the Shield of Aeneas and inscription in pen and ink in the upper margin of the Shield of Hercules: Plan. 2 hist. de l'ac.. des bell. let. t. 28 pag 21). Good margins on both plates.

In the Inventaire du Fonds Français, Yves Sjöberg states that these plates in their definitive version, with the complete letter, were inserted, along with two others, in volume XXVII of the Histoire de l'Académie des Belles Lettres to illustrate papers by the Comte de Caylus on subjects of Greek antiquity.

The Comte de Caylus was Le Lorrain's patron between his return from Rome in 1749 and his departure for Russia in 1758. The two shields are dated 1756, the year Le Lorrain was admitted to the Académie.