JEAN-BAPTISTE LALLEMAND (DIJON 1716-1803 PARIS)

The Château de Montmusard, considered a masterpiece of the Greek style in France, was built in circa 1765 for Claude-Philippe Fyot, marquis de La Marche (1694-1768), who served as First President for the Parliament of Burgundy, and commissioned from the Parisian architect Charles de Wailly (1730-1798). Its original plan, which juxtaposes two circular salons, one covered with a vault, the other surrounded by an open peristyle, earned de Wailly a certain fame and he subsequently presented variants to Catherine II of Russia and Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, but neither project was ultimately realised. When the marquis died in 1768, the project was taken up by his son, Jean-Philippe Fyot (1723-1772), but the maintenance of the château proved to be too costly and resulted in it being largely demolished at the end of the 18th century. The pendant, which was offered with the present picture in the 1953 Christie’s sale, and shows the east side of the château with Dijon beyond, is now in the Musée des Beaux Arts de Dijon, along with a watercolour drawing by Lallemand of the same view (inv. no. 1987-3-D).