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 …
Tag: Versailles
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 …
A Masterpiece
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Self-Portrait (c. 1726) Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) Musée Fabre, Montpellier To enlarge the picture; right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Largillière, a Parisian educated in Antwerp showed at an early age great aptitudes for painting and was apprenticed to Antoine Goubau (1616-1698). He became a …
An Allegory
PHILIPPE-LAURENT ROLAND (1746-1816) Allegorical Group with the Bust of an Architect (1780-90) Terracotta: Height 67,3 cm Paul J. Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" The son of a wood carver, Philippe-Laurent joined the atelier of the famous Agustin Pajou (1730-1809) at the age of …
Madame Adelaide
ADELAIDE LABILLE-GUIARD (1749-1803) Portrait of Madame Adelaide de France (1787) Oil on canvas 271 x 194 cm Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Adélaide Labille was born in Paris, the youngest of eight children. Her father was a haberdasher who owned a shop named A la …
Portrait of a Woman
JOHANN JULIUS HEINSIUS (1740-1812) Portrait of a Woman (1781) Canvas 65,5 x 54 cm Private collection To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Very little is known about this German portraitist, he has been erroneously confused with his elder brother Johann Ernst Heinsius (1731-1794); the confusion still persists to …
Old Masters 