Fragonard's New Philosopher

Many still remember the morning of March 4, 1998, at the Hôtel Drouot, when a famous "eagle eye" of the Quai Voltaire recognized Fragonard's yellow in an extremely dirty canvas hanging from a half-broken frame. He immediately made the connection with a sketch by Saint-Aubin in the margin of the 1776 Verrier catalog, picked up the phone to inform the powers that be, obtained a veto in a matter of seconds—budget no obstacle—and this sale with no catalog went down as an international event a few hours later. Fragonard's Saint Pierre pénitent ( Saint Peter the Penitent ), which fetched FF8 million, thus made a majestic comeback after an absence of 222 years. It took 240 years for the old man here to show his face again... All hope of finding him had died. Although the dealer…