EARLY DRAWINGS 177 



ately laid aside by me"; yet he "returned to the woods 

 of the New World with fresh ardor," 5 and there began 

 a series of drawings which were later published. 



While this is virtually all that has been recorded of 

 this incident in Audubon's career, a number of inter- 

 esting facts might be added which throw light upon 

 the surroundings of his life at Paris while under the 

 tuition of this master. At that time David was enjoy- 

 ing the privilege, accorded to eminent artists from an 

 early day, of living with his family and of having his 

 studios in special quarters set apart for the purpose in 

 the palace of the Louvre; this was continued until all 

 the artist tenants were turned out by one of Napoleon's 

 peremptory orders in 1806. David's principal studio 

 was at the corner of the Quai de Louvre and the square, 

 facing the church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, at a 

 point occupied in the present structure by the grand 

 staircase leading to the Egyptian Gallery. It was here 

 that his more advanced pupils studied; the appearance 

 of its interior, with his pupils at work, as well as the 

 view from one of its windows, by means of which its 

 exact position can be determined, may be seen today 

 in the interesting painting by Matthew Cochereau. 

 This small picture, first exhibited in the salon of 1814, 

 now hangs in the Louvre in company with some of the 

 finest of David's works, and immediately beneath his 

 huge canvas representing the coronation of Napoleon. 

 Over his principal room David had also a private studio, 

 and at one time he had another on the Quai, opposite 

 the Institute of France, while his numerous pupils occu- 

 pied a series of rooms, one above another, not remote 



5 The implication as to time, which is repeated above, contradicts an 

 earlier statement, which is probably more nearly correct, for when Audubon 

 returned to America in 1806 he was twenty-one. 



