GREUZE (Jean-Baptiste). Autograph letter signed... Lot 20

GREUZE (Jean-Baptiste). Autograph letter signed to Jean Tupinier. S.l., 10 nivôse an VII [December 30, 1798]. One p. in-4, address on back. "My dear compatriot, I could not be more worried about your health. It has been so long since I received any news from you, that I fear I have lost your friendship, or that you are ill; these two events would make me inconsolable; if you have any friendship for me, write to me as soon as you can, if you want to put my mind at rest. I feel that my attachment must be a burden to you; I know how much trouble you have taken for me. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT MY GRATITUDE, WHICH WILL BE BOUNDLESS FOR EVER. It would give me the greatest pleasure if you could sell the house from my brother's estate as soon as possible. I have very important reasons for asking you to do so. If there are any other recoveries, you will make them later. I embrace you with all my heart and am for life your good friend Greuze. Please present my respectful homage to m[a]d[am]e your wife. My children send you a thousand millions of friendship. JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE PAINTED THE PORTRAIT OF JEAN TUPINIER. A former bailiff-judge in Greuze's native Tournus, Jean Tupinier (1753-1816) was a judge at the Court of Cassation (1791), a member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), then a member of the Conservative Senate (1802) and a representative in the Chamber during the Hundred Days (1815). Thanks to him, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, virtually ruined by paper money and a spendthrift wife, managed to win a crucial lawsuit concerning the inheritance of his brother Jacques Greuze, an emigrant priest. In gratitude, he portrayed Jean Tupinier.