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| Louis-Jean Desprez La Chimère 1771 etching British Museum |
"Trained as an architect, Desprez won the Prix de Rome for architecture in 1776 and lived in Italy from 1777 to 1784 where he found employment as an illustrator. In 1784 he left for Stockholm as theatre designer to king Gustav III. Today he is best remembered for his skills as a draftsman. He also made a small number of original etchings, of which La Chimère is both the most accomplished and the most bizarre. The subject is described in a lengthy inscription which appears on the fifth state of the print. Born in the burning sands of Africa, Desprez's mythical beast has three heads: one a bird and two with the features of the devil. The skeletal monster devours its human prey amid the bones of its previous victims framed by the dark semicircle of an archway, the pale semicircle of the moon visible beyond. Even seen against the venerable tradition of demonic creatures in Western art, Desprez's macabre vision is a tour de force of his inventive skills and graphic technique."
– curator's notes from the Metropolitan Museum
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| attributed to Louis-Jean Desprez Temple of Discord before 1804 wash drawing British Museum |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Grotto of Posilippo, Naples before 1784 watercolor (print study) British Museum |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Death of Priam before 1804 watercolor British Museum |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Tomb of Agamemnon before 1804 wash drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Girandola at Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome before 1784 designed and hand-colored by Desprez, etched by Francesco Piranesi Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"From 1471 the papacy sponsored a spectacular fireworks display called the Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the papal fortress originally constructed as the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian. Every year at Easter; on the eve of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 28); and whenever a new pope was elected the fireworks would be staged. This remarkable print, designed and hand-colored by Louis-Jean Desprez and etched by Francesco Piranesi (son of the more famous Giovanni Battista) depicts the Girandola from a vantage on the opposite bank of the Tiber. In the foreground, spectators watch from carriages and a canopied viewing stand. Animated crowds populate the dramatically foreshortened Ponte Sant'Angelo, and the explosion of the rockets illuminating the night sky dominates the upper half of the sheet."
– curator's notes from the Metropolitan Museum
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Fantastic Interior with Torture Scene before 1804 wash drawing Morgan Library, New York |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Holy Sacrament in the Pauline Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican before 1784 designed and hand-colored by Desprez, etched by Francesco Piranesi Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Illumination of the Cross at St Peter's in Rome on Good Friday 1787 designed and hand-colored by Desprez, etched by Francesco Piranesi Los Angeles County Museum of Art |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez View of the Grotta di Palazzo with Banquet ca. 1790 watercolor Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Classical Amphitheater ca. 1777-84 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez View of Ruins of the Temple of Juno at Metapontum before 1781 watercolor (print study) Morgan Library, New York |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Ancient scene with Funeral ceremony for an Actor ca. 1777 watercolor Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Louis-Jean Desprez Antiquities found at Herculaneum being transported to Naples Museum ca. 1782 watercolor (print study) British Museum |
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| attributed to Louis-Jean Desprez Visitors inspecting Classical Ruins before 1804 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |