Lot 145: Property of another owner

Le tableau parlant
signed 'Jul By' (lower left)
oil on canvas
23 1/2 x 29in (59.7 x 73.7cm)

PROVENANCE:
Marquis Montcalm de Montpellier;
Sale, Sotheby's Arcade, 16 July 1992, lot 398.


Le tableau parlant (The talking picture) is an opera comique in one act by André Grétry (1741-1813).

In the absence of Isabelle's lover Léandre, Cassandre persuades Isabelle to marry him instead. Cassandre leaves and in the meantime Léandre returns and Isabelle changes her mind. She asks Cassandre's portrait for his agreement to the changed state of affairs, only to find that Cassandre himself is concealed behind the picture.