Naissance de la Vierge (esquisse).

Naissance de la Vierge (Birth of the Virgin), painted as a sketch (esquisse) in 1778 and held by the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, is a preparatory oil sketch for a larger composition depicting the nativity of the Virgin Mary, a subject from Catholic devotional iconography that had sustained a pictorial tradition since the medieval period. An esquisse in the French academic system was a small, freely painted study that established the overall compositional and coloristic scheme before the full canvas was undertaken. The loose, energetic handling of an esquisse allowed painters to explore ideas at speed, and these preparatory works are often admired today for their spontaneity. The Musée Fabre, built around the collection of François-Xavier Fabre, holds significant French Neoclassical oil sketches and preparatory works that document the working methods of painters active around 1800.

As an esquisse, the handling is deliberately free and summary: broad brushwork establishes tonal masses and figure groupings without pursuing the finish of a Salon canvas. Warm and cool passages alternate to organize the composition spatially. The color is applied with rapid confidence that would be disciplined into greater order in the finished work.