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Trissotin Reading to Philaminte, Bélise, and Armande (from act 3, scene 2 of Molière's "Les Femmes Savantes"
About the Artwork
The son of Antoine Coypel (whose drawing is on view nearby), Charles Coypel was a playwright as well as an artist, so his understanding of the theater was profound. This is the only known drawing for the series of prints Coypel designed after scenes from famous works by the great playwright Molière (about 1622-1673). For the subject of this drawing, Coypel chose a famous scene from The Learned Ladies, in which the pompous tutor, Trissotin, reads his own work to his pretentious female admirers, Philaminte, Bélise, and Armande, all of whom have been duped by his pseudo-intellectualism. The overly enthusiastic gestures of these women contrast with the quiet dejection of Henrietta at the far right. The sensitive daughter of Philaminte, she is the only one not taken in by Trissotin's pretensions.
Provenance
Baron Dominique-Vivant Denon (see Denon and Duval, Monuments des arts du dessin, 4:293). Marquis Charles de Valori, Paris (Lugt 2500, lower right, in blue ink); [Valori sale ("Mis de V…"), Hôtel Drouot, Paris (25-26 November 1907), no. 38, repr.]. Private collection ("Appartenant à Mlle X…" in 1953 sale cat.); [Paris, Galerie Charpentier (9 June 1953), no. 4, repr.]. [Mr. and Mrs. Diego Suarez sale, William Doyle Galleries, New York (4 February 1976), no. 325 (according to Butkin records)]; purchased in 1976.
Exhibition history
French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Charles Coypel (French, 1694–1752)
- Date
- probably c. 1725–1726
- Medium
- graphite, graphite wash, and red chalk
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 21.7 x 30.6 cm (8 9/16 x 12 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Bequest of Muriel Butkin
- Accession no.
- 2008.401
More by Charles-Antoine Coypel in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011571
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