FRENCH SCHOOL Portrait of a Goldsmith Oil on canvas (92 x 76 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Despite the extremely high quality of this work, characterized by an uncompromising realism and an execution that reveals the hand of a virtuoso, the identities …
The French Cardinal
GIOVANNI BATTISTA GAULLI, known as BACICCIO Portrait of Emmanuel Theodose de La Tour d'Auvergne, Cardinal de Bouillon (1670) Oil on canvas (121 x 97 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" Dramatized by the crimson velvet drapery, this sumptuous composition showing a young prelate …
Le Grand Colbert
CLAUDE LEFEBVRE (1632-1674) Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1666) Oil on canvas (138 x 113 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Claude Lefebvre was the son of the painter Jean Lefebvre (1600-1664); he was baptized on 12th September 1632 at the church of Saint Louis …
A Great Nobleman
FRENCH SCHOOL Portrait of Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart Oil on canvas (182 x 97 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" The sitter has been identified by comparing this portrait with a drawing in the Bibliotheque Nationale. Gabriel de Rochechuart (1600-75) began his career …
A French Hero
CHARLES LEBRUN (1619-1690) Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne Oil on canvas (67 x 52 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" This Portrait of Turenne, with its stunning sense of presence and truth, is not a finished work, but a study for …
Portrait of an Architect
PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE (1602-1674) Portrait of Jacques Lemercier (1644) Oil on canvas (97 x 75 cm) Chateau de Versailles Following a visit to Rome in 1607, Jacques Lemercier (1585-1654) rapidly became one of the most reputed architects in Paris. It was not long before Richelieu engaged him, entrusting him with his main building projects, the most …
My Father-in-Law
FRANCOIS TORTEBAT (1621-1690) Portrait of Simon Vouet (1665) Oil on canvas (63 x 52 cm) Chateau de Versailles Quite unlike the many dazzling portraits of worthies shown to their best advantage by flattering regalia, the artist eliminated every single superfluous feature here, in order to concentrate on the sitter's almost hypnotic stare. Using thick paint, he scrupulously described …
Flowers and Silver
MEIFFREM COMTE (1630-1705) Still Life with a Candelabra and Ewers Oil on canvas (85 x 105 cm) Musee de Versailles We know very little about Meiffrem Comte. After training locally in his hometown of Marseilles, he worked both in Aix-en-Provence, where he was affiliated to the Guild of St. Luke, and Marseilles. He would appear …
Margaret’s Portrait
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) Mrs Gainsborough (1778) Oil on canvas (77 x 64 cm) Courtauld Institute Galleries, University of London To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Gainsborough had been married for over 30 years by the date of this portrait. His marriage to Margaret Burr (1728-1798) was, presumably, a …
The Musical MP
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) William Wollaston (1758) Oil on canvas (121 x 98 cm) Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, UK To enlarge the image, right-click on it and then "Open in a new tab" According to Nicola Kalinsky: "This portrait must have been one of the last Gainsborough undertook in Suffolk before he moved from Ipswich. Wollaston (1730-1797). …
Old Masters 