The Triumph of Galatea

This composition is a near-exact replica of a lost work, recorded in a reversed engraving by Antoine Coypel in collaboration with Charles Simonneau, in 1695 (The British Museum, London, inv. no. 1888,0716.206). The engraving is dedicated to Philippe d'Orléans (1674-1723), Duc de Chartres, who likely commissioned the now-lost painting (see N. Garnier, Antoine Coypel 1661-1722, Paris, 1989, p. 120, no. 52). The original is thought to have had a pendant of Bacchus and Ariadne, which is also lost and known only through a 1693 engraving dedicated to Philippe I (1640-1701), Duc d’Orleans, the father of Philippe d’Orleans. There are a number of copies of the composition, some of which follow the reversed engraving.