Jacques Philippe CARESME (Paris 1734 - 1796) - Lot 206

Jacques Philippe CARESME (Paris 1734 - 1796) Portrait of Madame Lesage Original oval canvas Signed on the left "ph Caresme". 99.5 x 79 cm Inscribed on a label on the reverse of the stretcher, specifying the model's identity: "épouse / de François Augustin / Lesage / née à Gemappe (Belgique) / décédée à Paris le 21 (...) / 1823, âgée de 58 ans" (wife / of François Augustin / Lesage / born in Gemappe (Belgium) / died in Paris on 21 (...) / 1823, aged 58). For a few lines on the musical instrument, see Baillio's Notice sur un tableau de Vigée Lebrun: instrument à la mode vers 1780-1790. Music seems to occupy an important place in Jacques Philippe Caresme's paintings. We find a guitar in several of his paintings, such as "La Joueuse de guitare" (Paris, Cognacq-Jay, inv. n°132), which is reminiscent of Watteau's long-necked guitar in "La Finette" (panel, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. n°MI 1123). This taste for the "espagnolade" can also be seen in our painting, with the model holding a so-called "espagnole" guitar.