Henry de TRIQUETI (1803-1874) An album entitled on the cover "Temple/Dining Hall". Title page: "Sketches for Astrée/Temple Dining Hall/au Perthuis 1870-1871". Album containing 36 drawings (some on tracing paper) Various techniques 36 x 24 cm, album dimensions Illustrations: Poetry, Pax, Amor, Astrée, allegories of Justice, figures, angel musicians, couples and children, putti, friezes... Our album brings together a set of preparatory drawings, probably for a large, unrealized dining room décor, whose main source of inspiration is the fabulous love story between Astrée and Céladon, written by Honoré d'Urfé in the 17th century. The projects were realized in the Château de Perthuis, where Triqueti lived during the war, between 1870 and 1871. They are probably unfinished designs for the great hall of the Inner Temple (London), whose architectural structure can be seen before it was modified. The Inner Temple had been a meeting place for men of the cloth since the 14th century. In 1740, the painter Sir James Thornhill painted a picture for the east wall, featuring the symbol of the Inner Temple (the unicorn - a Pegasus rising from Mount Helicon). The hall was redecorated in 1870 by Robert Smirke, then his younger brother Sydney Smirke, in the neo-Gothic style. Thornhill's painting occupies the ogival space seen in Triqueti's designs. Destroyed during the bombardments of the Second World War, it was rebuilt in 1955. Provenance: Château du Perthuis. Note: The primacy of drawing was not an empty word for Triqueti, who subordinated all the arts he practiced to it. Sculptor, painter, writer and artistic advisor to the Duc d'Aumale, Triqueti is also known in the world of old drawings as a famous collector of drawings and engravings. Through his wife, he inherited the important collection of Thomas Banks (also a sculptor and collector), which included many drawings by Renaissance masters. A regular visitor to the Hôtel Drouot, Triqueti rubbed shoulders with a circle of illustrious collectors and curators such as His de La Salle (1795-1878) and Frédéric Reiset (1815-1891). Triqueti took his first steps as an artist under the aegis of Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, a family friend and neighbor. Triqueti demonstrated a perfect mastery of the art of drawing. He deploys every facet of drawing, depending on its purpose or the work's destination. Extremely precise in his drawings and copies, he uses a finely-sharpened pencil. He scratches with a feather in his search for compositions and decorations, multiplying variants and options. He can be powerful in his contours, in a Géricaldian vein, or content himself with a fine, thin line for his ornamental subjects. He sometimes drew in sanguine, particularly for academic studies and portraits. His highly finished watercolors are absolutely limpid and distant, imitating to perfection the rendering he aims to achieve in his "tarsia".