Abstract

Arnould de Vuez, author of the Parthenon drawings attributed to Carrey The earliest complete series of drawings showing the Parthenon frieze - the Album Noitel (1674) - has traditionally been attributed to the Troyes artist Jacques Carrey. Such attribution should be brought into question. This document was drawn during the Aegean Sea expedition led by Marquis de Nointel, Louis XIV's ambassador to Constantinople. Several sources mention that the two painters attached to the French diplomat were of "Flemish" origin. The latter mention straightaway makes any intervention by Jacques Carrey impossible, as he is from Champagne. The name of one of these 'Flemish' painters is Rombaut Faydherbe, from Malines, (1649-1673), who is known to have died, during the visit to the island of Naxos, therefore before the visit of the mission to Athens. Our study tends to prove that his travelling companion most probably was a painter from Lille, Arnould deVuez (1644-1720), of Flemish origin, whose presence alongside Marquis de Nointel is also attested during his ambassadorship to Constantinople.