Louis DUPRÉ (Versailles, 1789 - Paris, 1837) Night Drawing Session in Naples, 1814 Pen and brown ink, brown wash and white gouache highlights. Signed and dated lower left: "L. Dupré 1814". 15,6 x 22,9 cm on a sheet of 18,6 x 25,2 cm A student of Jacques-Louis David, the landscape painter Louis Dupré became the official painter of Jerome Bonaparte around 1811-1812, who offered him a pension to travel to Italy. In Rome from 1812 to 1814, he moved to Naples after Napoleon's first abdication, where he entered the service of Caroline Murat. In this Neapolitan evening, we recognize among others the composers Ferdinand Hérold (1791-1833) on the right, Hippolyte Chélard (1789-1861) on the left or the landscape artist Alexandre-Hyacinthe Dunouy (1757-1841) in the center. The other participants, Madame Dunouy, the Bonafide couple and "Me Leriche" are mentioned several times in the correspondence between Dupré and his close friend, the sculptor David d'Angers, who was in Naples for three months that year (Letters from P. -J. David d'Angers to his friend the painter Louis Dupré, Paris, 1891). The latter could be one of the two mysterious figures seated from behind, accompanied by Dupré himself.