Material Pen and ink and watercolour and gouache on paper, with paper additions
Dimensions 68.2 × 46.6 cm
Price Available upon inquiry
Status Vetted

About the Work

This magnificent, previously unpublished drawing by Louis-Jean Desprez was almost certainly made in preparation for the engraving showing the Illumination of the Cross in St Peter’s Basilica published by Francesco Piranesi in 1787. Desprez and Piranesi collaborated on a remarkably popular sequence of Grand Tour prints: Piranesi publishing etched outlines of Desprez’s designs, which he then hand-coloured. This carefully plotted and meticulously worked drawing appears to be a rare preparatory study by Desprez for the finished print.

Executed on the same scale as the print, the drawing offers fascinating evidence for Desprez’s working-method. To achieve the complex perspective of the architecture, Desprez was required to insert several strips of paper to correct earlier errors, before adding elaborate architectural elements with a fluid pen line, radically abbreviating certain details. These details, in turn, were refined and focused by Piranesi in the finished etching, the prints appeal to travellers being, in part, their architectural and topographical accuracy. The result in the present watercolour is a grand tonal essay, which is less about ornamental verisimilitude and more about capturing the romantic appeal of the crepuscular, candle-lit basilica. The drawing, made on a thick piece of Dutch, laid paper with the watermark for J Honig & Zoonen, is worked on both sides. The verso shows a complex study of Mezentius Fatally Wounded by Aeneas, a design Desprez would work up further in a serious of more finished studies. As such, this process sheet, offers unparalleled insight into Desprez’s method and his relationship with Piranesi.

Show moreless

Provenance

Bassenge, Berlin, 28th November 2025, lot 6583;
Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd.

View artwork at TEFAF Maastricht 2026

View Full Floorplan