Lot 189: Venus and Cupid in a chariot drawn by doves, with aputto; and Diana and Cupid in a chariot drawn by stags

Noël Hallé (Paris 1711-1781) Venus and Cupid in a chariot drawn by doves, with a putto; and Diana and Cupid in a chariot drawn by stags the former signed and dated 'hallé / 1753' (centre left, on the wheel) oil on canvas, unlined 11½ x 15 5/8 in. (29.2 x 39.7 cm.) and 11½ x 15 in. (29.2 x 38.1 cm.) (2)a pair (2)

29.2 x 39.7 cm.

These beautifully preserved and hitherto unrecorded canvases would appear to be preparatory sketches for two of the three overdoors exhibited by Hallé at the Paris Salon in 1753: Le Midy, sous l’emblème de Vénus & l’Amour (no. 50), and Le Soir, désigné par une Diane (no. 51). The completed set of overdoors adorned the Folie, commissioned by the financier François Gaillard de la Bouëxière from the architect Antoine-Mathieu Le Carpentier - with whom Hallé frequently collaborated – that was built in the Faubourg Montmartre, in the immediate outskirts of Paris. We are grateful to Nicole Wilk-Brocard for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs and for her assistance with the above entry.