Design for the Temple of Flora

This preparatory drawing is related to the Temple of Flora at the center of the deser of the Bailli de Breteuil. The temple was loosely based on the ruins of the Temple of the Sibyl in Tivoli. The small temple for the deser was created with lapis lazuli columns. The design shows a gilt-bronze statuette in the center, sphinxes at the top, and festoons between the columns, which are now missing in the Madrid temple. A working drawing created in Valadier’s workshop, this sketch would have subsequently been drawn in a more finished way to serve as a presentation model.