EARLY DRAWINGS 177 
ately laid aside by me”; yet he “returned to the woods 
of the New World with fresh ardor,” ® 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 ]’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. 
