Design for a Pulpit

18th century

Not on view

Together with a second drawing in the collection, this drawing by Taraval shows ideas for the design of a pulpit. While they could represent an exercise, created without a specific location in mind, there is some evidence to suggest that they were, in fact, meant for the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The church’s existing pulpit was built during Taraval’s lifetime after the design of his contemporary, the architect Charles de Wailly. The close correspondence between the sculpture crowning this structure and the two variants presented in Taraval’s drawings may indicate that Taraval had hoped to gain the commission himself. This suspicion seems to be confirmed by a related design by Taraval for the organ tribune in the same church.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Design for a Pulpit
Artist: Louis Gustave Taraval (French, Stockholm 1738–1794 Paris)
Date: 18th century
Medium: Pen and black ink, brush and brown, gray, and blue washes, over black chalk
Dimensions: sheet: 16 7/8 x 10 9/16 in. (42.9 x 26.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2008
Object Number: 2008.538.3
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Louis Gustave Taraval

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Collection de Dessins des Poëles de formes antique et moderne, de l'invention et de la Manufacture du Sieur Ollivier

Multiple artists/makers

[ca. 1780]

Design for a Neoclassical Building, Thought to be a School of Arts for the City of Stockholm, Louis Gustave Taraval French, Pen and gray ink, brush and brown, gray, and colored wash, heightened with white, with framing lines in pen and brown ink on paper strips framing the drawing sheet — Design for a Neoclassical Building, Thought to be a School of Arts for the City of Stockholm
Louis Gustave Taraval
ca. 1770–94

Design for the Fireworks Display in Paris for the Birth of the Dauphin in 1781, Louis Gustave Taraval French, Pen and black ink, with gray, brown, and colored wash and gouache — Design for the Fireworks Display in Paris for the Birth of the Dauphin in 1781
Louis Gustave Taraval
Pierre Louis Moreau Desproux
1781

Design for a Pulpit, Louis Gustave Taraval French, Pen and black ink, brush and brown, gray, and blue washes, over black chalk — Design for a Pulpit
Louis Gustave Taraval
18th century

Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) French, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white, over black chalk — Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
1658

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