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In the Slaughterhouse

Jean-Jacques de Boissieu

Basic information

ID: Ж-865
Author: Jean-Jacques de Boissieu
Name: In the Slaughterhouse
Date of creation: 18th c.
Technique: oil painting
Material: canvas oil
Dimensions: 51 x 67.5 cm (height x width)

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: narrative art
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery

Information about author

Author: Jean-Jacques de Boissieu
Artist's lifetime: 1736–1810
Country: France
Biography: Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, a painter and graphic artist, spent his life travelling throughout Europe. He developed a particular interest in landscape painting and produced many drawings and sketches during his travels. However, due to health problems, the artist gave up painting and devoted himself to graphics. Jean-Jacques de Boissieu became interested in the etching technique and published his first engravings at 22. In his works, the master preferred depictions of genre scenes from the lives of ordinary French people. During his long career, the artist achieved significant commercial success. Critics of the time admired his works and were frequent visitors to his workshop in Lyon.

Object description

Although the painting "In the Slaughterhouse" is attributed to Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, he is unlikely to have created it. Boissieu worked exclusively as a graphic artist and painted only at the beginning of his career. Nevertheless, the plot and composition of the picture show a closeness with his etchings, which often depict scenes from the life of the French. The painting shows the building of a village slaughterhouse for livestock, where a group of people have gathered. On the right, an artist is sketching while another artist and a woman behind him are examining a sketch. The plot of the picture is not just a genre scene but a depiction of the work process of two 18th-century artists. On the left, a group of peasants poses for sketches. One man dismounts from a donkey, and the other bends over a killed calf.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

In the Slaughterhouse

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