Jacques de Lajoue

Jacques de Lajoue II was born in 1687 as the son of an architect with the same name and was admitted to the Academy in 1721. His oeuvre includes landscapes, marine paintings, hunting scenes, interiors, fantastical architecture, and views of gardens, which he sent to the Paris Salon in the years between 1738 and 1753.

The present picture shows an elaborate piece of architecture in an antique style, probably situated in the middle of a park, consisting of wall fountains together with freestanding, partly figural fountain architecture. The figure of a lady dressed in red seen from behind and a dog shown drinking from the basin of the fountain introduce additional life to the scene.

In terms of both style and composition this signed painting can be seamlessly positioned in Lajoue’s work. A further lady in a red dress with her back turned to the viewer occurs in a park scene that today is in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, while the right-hand figure of the putto at the fountain in the foreground of the present picture is quoted, only minimally altered, in an overdoor from Waddesdon Manor. Further comparable works by Lajoue are in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen and in the Museé de Picardie in Amiens .