11377 DESIGN FOR A TAPESTRY FOR THE CHAPEL OF SAINT GENEVIEVE IN THE TRANSEPT OF THE PANTHEON BY CHARLES LAMEIRE French. Circa 1870. Measurements: Framed: Height: 17 3/4″ (45 cm); Width: 15″ (38 cm). Sheet Size: Height: 10 1/4″ (26 cm); Width: 6 3/4 (17 cm).
Pencil, watercolor and gouache on tissue-thin paper laid down on paper.
Signed lower right:
Ink stamp on the reverse
A. Piazza, Rue de Vaugirard
The present sketch by Charles Joseph Lameire (1832–1910) depicts one of two tapestries designed for the chapels of the transept of the Pantheon in Paris, and is signed by the artist at the lower right. Large-scale cartoons of the wall hangings were ultimately executed by Lameire and woven by the Gobelins factory using the Savonnerie-style knotted pile technique. The tapestries were completed in 1884 and immediately presented to the public during the Exposition des Manufactures Nationales au Palais de l’Industrie on the Champs-Élysées as an example of French know-how, before returning to the Pantheon.
Full research report available on request.