JUILLARD

ANDRÉ JUILLARD ◊ THE 7 LIVES OF THE SPARROWHAWK La Blanche morte (T.1), Glénat 1983 Original plate no. 35, prepublished in Circus no. 58 February 1983. Signed. India ink on paper 32.4 × 44 cm (12.76 × 17.32 in.) This is a key plate in the 7 lives of the sparrow hawk series, as it's the moment when the young Auvergnate, Ariane de Troïl, meets a masked knight who has just single-handedly stunned half a dozen assailants! It's the start of a long friendship that's far from coincidental, for in the shadows, an old woman, half-witch, half-sighted, accompanied by hawks, watches the encounter from the sky. Cothias's dialogue, a swordsman of words, hits the nail on the head. As for Juillard's drawing, it's at its zenith. Along with François Bourgeon, he is the great historical illustrator of the Glénat catalog.