Praying monk.

Drawing, red chalk (sanguine), heightened with white, 16,3 x 12,1 cm, laid paper, signed in lower right corner "Cl. Audran".

Stuck under passe-partout with coloured framed border.

Introspective scene with a kneeling, hooded monk, in prayer in front of a crucifix. Claude III Audran (1658-1734) was an artist from Lyon who continued the family workshop of his father and grandfather. He was painter to Louis XIV, for whom he made many decorative designs. From 1700-1701 he took part in the decoration of the Menagerie of Versailles, the Chapels of Versailles, the Palace of Fontainebleau, the Château d'Anet, the Château de Meudon, and Les Invalides. He also made designs for tapestries for the Gobelins factory.