A pen and ink drawing of a smiling, bewigged French knight. In uniform, he stands facing left, one arm holding a tri-corner hat, the other held up in greeting.

Pier Leone Ghezzi

Le Chevalier de La Motte

Maker

Pier Leone Ghezzi (Italian, 1674-1755)

Title

Le Chevalier de La Motte

Year

ca. 1725-1730

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

pen

Supports

Dimensions

30 x 20 cm (11 13/16 x 7 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed in contemporary hand in brown ink on slip of paper attached to mount: "M. le Ch. deLamothe"; on verso in contemporary hand in brown ink: "M. le Ch. deLamothe"; numbered in brown ink at upper right hand corner of mount: "18".

Watermark: Crown with the letter P in a circle

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Janos Scholz

Object Number

52.128

Type

Provenance

… - 1867, Possibly in the collection of Rev. Edward H. AE. Goddard, M.A., Vicar of Eartham, Sussex. According to Mr. Janos Scholz.

1867, Possible sale Sotheby 's on 03/07/1867.

… Collection of Dr. Max A. Goldstein, St. Louis, MO. According to Mr. Janos Scholz.

… Purchased by Mr. Janos Scholz from Dr. Max A. Goldstein.

… 1952, Gift to the RISD Museum from Mr. Janos Scholz on 05/06/1952.

Publications

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer
Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum
Mar 12, 2022 – Sep 04, 2022

Label copy

A man wearing a wig and a military uniform holds a tricorn hat, raising his knobby right hand in greeting. His sloped forehead ends in a comically large pointed nose, its gaping, flared nostrils adding to the grotesque effect of his fleshy face. Pier Leone Ghezzi was a prolific caricaturist who drew thousands of “charged portraits” of the upper echelons of Rome’s cosmopolitan society. While the identity of this French military man is not known, his likeness fits a common formula in Ghezzi’s drawings, with figures shown full length, often with beak-like noses and protruding lips.

Caricatura and Character
Satire in Italy and Britain in the 18th Century
Apr 11, 2003 – Jun 29, 2003
Old Master Drawings
Sep 02, 1983 – Oct 16, 1983
Italian Art in Celebration of Rhode Island’s Italian Festival; Seven Centuries of Italian Art
CRIA Benefit Exhibition
Apr 12, 1967 – May 21, 1967
Italian Drawings from the Museum's Collection
Mar 17, 1961 – Apr 16, 1961

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Pier Leone Ghezzi (Italian, 1674-1755)
Le Chevalier de La Motte, ca. 1725-1730
Pen and ink and chalk on laid paper
30 x 20 cm (11 13/16 x 7 7/8 inches)
Gift of Janos Scholz 52.128

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