Sancho Panza Being Tossed in a Blanket
Pierre Charles Trémolières·1723–24
Historical Context
Pierre Charles Trémolières' Sancho Panza Being Tossed in a Blanket from 1723-24 illustrates one of the most famous comic episodes from Cervantes' Don Quixote, a novel that provided endless subject matter for European painters. Trémolières was a French painter who won the Prix de Rome and produced decorative and easel paintings in the Rococo manner. His early death at 36 cut short a promising career that bridged the late Baroque and Rococo styles.
Technical Analysis
Trémolières' oil-on-canvas technique demonstrates the light, animated brushwork and warm palette of the French Rococo. The dynamic composition of the tossing scene and the comic characterization of the figures show his skill in adapting literary narrative to painting.
Provenance
Henri Baderou, Paris [according to correspondence with Pierre Rosenberg cited by Wise 1996]. Wildenstein, London, 1950 [as Charles-Antoine Coypel, according to a letter of November 3, 1981 from Max Harari, Wildenstein, to Susan Wise in curatorial file]; sold by Wildenstein to Mr. and Mrs. John Walter Clarke, Chicago, 1976 [according to letter cited above]; given to Art Institute, 1977.
