FRENCH SCHOOL circa 1850, GARNIER *** Dancers in the Italian countryside Original canvas, stretcher and frame (numbered 3) 90.5 x 118 cm Signed on reverse "Garnier (Damage) Our painting is an early copy of Michalon's Paysage inspiré de la vue de Frascati, signed and dated 1822, presented at the 1822 Salon and purchased by Louis XVIII, now in the Louvre. In 1837, an artist named "Garnier" took part in the Prix de Rome competition for historical landscapes. Grunchec states that "the identity of this artist remains difficult to determine" (see P. Grunchec, Les concours des prix de Rome, tome II, Paris, 1989, p. 132 and p. 288 note 33).