Parting Thought on Bosse, Le Brun, Blanchard, and Jouvenet

All the prints in this section, the four German prints after Bosse and the single English prints after Le Brun, Blanchard, and Jouvenet, deepen our awareness of Melville’s engagement with the classical French tradition in figure painting as it evolved from the paintings of Poussin in Italy through the formation and influence of the Royal Academy under the leadership of Le Brun in Paris. By the time Jouvenet completed The Resurrection of Lazarus in 1706, new trends in French figure painting, also of interest to Melville, were well under way. By the time of Jouvenet’s death in 1717, Watteau was painting Pilgrimage to Cythera, his “reception piece” as a full member of the Royal Academy.