Jacques Carrey
Encyclopedia
Jacques Carrey. French painter and draughtsman. An otherwise little noted and unremarkable artist he is now remembered almost exclusively for the series of drawings he made of the Parthenon
, Athens, in 1674. Carrey was part of the embassy of Charles Marie François Olier, marquis de Nointel
to Constantinople in August 1670. Part of Nointel's commission was to purchase manuscripts, medallions and sculptures while abroad. Carrey was recommended by his master, Charles Le Brun
, to be included in the entourage as draughtsman. As a result of this, between 1670 and 1679 Carrey executed over 500 drawings of towns, antiquities, ceremonies and examples of local fetes and customs in Asia Minor, Greece and Palestine.
Nointel’s group visited Athens in November 1674. Here in a two-week period Carrey produced about fifty-five drawings of the sculptures on the Parthenon. Thirty-five of these, showing details of the pediments, metopes and frieze, now survive in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale. Since 20% of the Parthenon’s sculpture was destroyed in the Venetian bombardment of 1687, Carrey's work is the sole record of much of this missing section, though not all since some of the sculpture was irretrievably lost. His red and black chalk drawings, probably taken from life, meticulously record the cracks and other damage, making no attempt to complete missing details.
On returning to Paris in 1679 Carrey presented Le Brun with the drawings he had made in Constantinople; several are in the Cabinet des Dessins at the Louvre, Paris. Three paintings known to have been made by Carrey in 1675 are presently unknown, but the painting depicting The Marquis de Nointel before the City of Athens in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chartres is almost certainly his.
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
, Athens, in 1674. Carrey was part of the embassy of Charles Marie François Olier, marquis de Nointel
Charles Marie François Olier, marquis de Nointel
Charles-Marie-François Olier, marquis de Nointel , a councillor to the Parlement de Paris, was the French ambassador to the Ottoman court, 1670 to 1679, charged from the first with renegotiating the Capitulations under which French merchants and others did business within the Ottoman...
to Constantinople in August 1670. Part of Nointel's commission was to purchase manuscripts, medallions and sculptures while abroad. Carrey was recommended by his master, Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...
, to be included in the entourage as draughtsman. As a result of this, between 1670 and 1679 Carrey executed over 500 drawings of towns, antiquities, ceremonies and examples of local fetes and customs in Asia Minor, Greece and Palestine.
Nointel’s group visited Athens in November 1674. Here in a two-week period Carrey produced about fifty-five drawings of the sculptures on the Parthenon. Thirty-five of these, showing details of the pediments, metopes and frieze, now survive in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale. Since 20% of the Parthenon’s sculpture was destroyed in the Venetian bombardment of 1687, Carrey's work is the sole record of much of this missing section, though not all since some of the sculpture was irretrievably lost. His red and black chalk drawings, probably taken from life, meticulously record the cracks and other damage, making no attempt to complete missing details.
On returning to Paris in 1679 Carrey presented Le Brun with the drawings he had made in Constantinople; several are in the Cabinet des Dessins at the Louvre, Paris. Three paintings known to have been made by Carrey in 1675 are presently unknown, but the painting depicting The Marquis de Nointel before the City of Athens in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chartres is almost certainly his.