"Les petits charlatans".

Etching and drypoint, 25,5 x 33 cm, signed and dated in pl.: "J.J.D.B., 1772" and "K. du Jardin, 1687" (sl. toned, sm. tear with loss of image upper right corner, trimmed at framing lines with small lower text margin).

Under gilt passe-partout, under glass and gilt frame, not studied outside frame (sm. def. at frame).

Countryfolk gathered before a makeshift stage where three men dressed as characters from the Commedia dell'arte are either trying to sell some medicine, or they are mocking the tradition of itinerant quack doctors. One of the men, dressed in white and wearing a mask, sits in front of the stage and plucks a string instrument; his companion, a man dressed in black, stands on the tip of his toes on the stage; behind him hangs a poster representing a nobleman holding a jar of the concoction; a third man peeks from behind a curtain. Roman ruins in background. Lettered below image: "gravé d'après Le Tableau de Karle du jardin tiré du Cabinet de Monseiur Blondel de Gagny / Receveur general Des Finances". The painting in question was in the collection of Blondel de Gagny; after the latter's death (1776) it was bought by Blondel Dazincourt, and then by Louis XVI in 1783. It is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv.no.1394). 4th state (of 6).
Ref. Perez 63.VIII - Inv. Fonds Français 63.