Funeral for Marie-Thérèse of Spain, Dauphine of France, in the Church of Nôtre Dame, Paris, on November 24, 1746 France, 18th century

Funeral for Marie-Thérèse of Spain, Dauphine of France, in the Church of Nôtre Dame, Paris, on November 24, 1746

c. 1746

Charles-Nicolas Cochin

(French, 1715–1790)

France, 18th century

Pen and black ink and gray wash heightened with white gouache on cream laid paper, incised (with graphite) for transfer

Support: Beige(1) laid paper, lined with Japanese paper

Sheet: 45 x 30.9 cm (17 11/16 x 12 3/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 2000.2

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Charles-Nicolas Cochin worked closely with the branch of the royal household charged with organizing and presenting royal ceremonies to produce prints such as the one related to this drawing.

Description

As an official draftsman to the king, Charles-Nicolas Cochin was responsible for documenting royal events, festivities, and ceremonies. When the Spanish princess Marie-Thérèse, wife of Louis XV’s eldest son, died in childbirth, she was given two lavish funerals: one at the Church of Saint Denis, and another, represented in this drawing, at Notre Dame in Paris. Cochin’s drawing shows how the interior of the gothic cathedral was theatrically redecorated in the current rococo style. Beneath the majestic canopy in the center of the nave, an ornate arched structure, a baldequin, contains the princess’s coffin.