(French, 1784-1845)
Gil Blas Chez l'Hôte Corcuello
Oil on canvas; 21 x 18 inches / 53 x 46 cm.
Signed and dated 'Haudebourt-Lescot. 1826’, lower right
Exhibited: Paris Salon, 1827, No. 537
Hortense Lescot was one of the most successful women artists in France of the 1820s and 30s. Her subjects were mainly drawn from history and literature, in line with the 'Troubadour' painters of the early 19th century such as Ingres and Delaroche.
The subject of this picture is from Lesage's popular novel 'Gil Blas de Santillana’, (1715) which follows the misfortunes of a Voltairesque anti-hero. Here, Gil Blas is about to have supper and is taken in by the flattery of an elegantly dressed cavalier. Having ordered quantities of food and wine, the uninvited guest insults the hapless Gil Blas by advising him to be wary of flattering parasites, laughs in his face and exits, leaving his miserable host to pay the bill.