Jacques Carrey

Jacques Carrey (b Troyes, 12 Jan 1649; d Troyes, 18 Feb 1726). French painter and draughtsman. His reputation is founded on the series of drawings he made of the Parthenon, Athens, in 1674. Carrey was one of several young artists who accompanied Charles-Henri-Francois Olier, Marquis de Nointel, in his embassy to Constantinople in August 1670. Louis XIV had commanded Nointel to purchase manuscripts, medallions and sculptures while abroad, and the Premier Peintre du Roi, Charles Le Brun, recommended that Carrey, a pupil of his, should be included in the entourage in order to make drawings of the most significant buildings and settings. As a result of this, between 1670 and 1679 Carrey executed over 500 drawings of towns, antiquities, ceremonial displays and examples of local festivities and customs in Asia Minor, Greece and Palestine.