He had brought frogs to his workshop.
Like a scientist in his laboratory, Gustave Moreau had set out to dissect the texts of La Fontaine.
He had gone, like Delacroix, to the Jardin des Plantes.
He had drawn the Bangkok elephant in pencil.
A wealthy Marseille enthusiast, Antony Roux, passionate about the watercolor technique then very popular, had commissioned illustrations for a volume of
Fables
.
At the end of 1879, Moreau sent him the frontispiece.
Very quickly, they write to each other, appreciate each other, become friends.
An immense and meticulous project begins.
The artist finds in his buckets the brilliance of the precious stones which he arranged in his mythological compositions, superimposes transparent keys as brilliant as the feathers of the peacock who posed for him in the menagerie of the Natural History Museum, adds this. and there highlights of gouache.
See also
Royal farmyard at the Palace of Versailles
It is documented in books, is inspired by the plates of a popular periodical,
The Picturesque Store
.
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