A series of drawings by Henri-Alphonse Perin (1798-1874) for the Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Paris, recently acquired by the Louvre

During 1998-1999, the Louvre Graphic Arts Department acquired a major serie s of drawings by Heri-Alphonse Perin (Reims 1798-Paris 1874) related to the decor of the Eucharist chapel in the Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Paris . This acquisition, supplemented at the same time by the donation of five o ther works connected with the same decor, marks a significant addition to t wo previous purchases: three drawings relating to the same chapel which wer e bought in 1987, together with a drawing of the Litanies de la Vierge chap el by Victor Orsel (1795-1850) who, like Perin, studied under Pierre Guerin , bought in 1992. The thirteen sketches or studies dealt with in the presen t article include six subjects intended for the chapel dome, two related to the pendentives, four to the decor of the pilasters, and a final subject r elated to the painting of the lympanum above the sacristy door. These drawi ngs, originally part of a major collection which has formerly appeared on t he Paris market(in fact the Perin family collection belonging to Henri-Alph onse's sone, the architect Felix Perin, and part of which was auctioned at the Hotel Drouot in Paris on 23-27 June 1891) feature a variety of formats and are for the most part executed in black or black lead pencil, often hig hlighted and stumped. They offer particularly valuable evidence for anyone interested either in the history of the interior decoration of Notre-Dame-d e-Lorette in general, or in Perin's own artistic contribution to the church , a key element in his oe uvre.