Etienne Parrocel

The history and portrait painter, Etienne I, known as Le Romain, was a pupil of his uncle, Pierre Parrocel (1670 Avignon – 1739 Paris), and a member of an important and influential dynasty of artists. In 1717 he accompanied his uncle to Rome to continue his training under no less than Carlo Maratta. His subsequent artistic career developed in Rome, where he enjoyed great esteem and was a member of the city’s Accademia di San Luca from 1734 to 1762. The present study has been executed in a fluid and elegant drawing style which reveals the decisive influence of Maratta. The stylistic correspondences between Etienne and his uncle are occasionally so close that it is often very difficult to distinguish them. Which of the two artists is the author of the present delightful study sheet, for example, cannot be ascertained with any certainty.