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Charles LEBRUN (1619-1690), Workshop of
Portrait of Louis XI…
See original version (French)
150
-
Charles LEBRUN (1619-1690), Workshop of
Portrait of Louis XI…
See original version (French)
Estimate €15,000 - €20,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Charles LEBRUN (1619-1690), Workshop of
Portrait of Louis XIV (1638 - 1715) in Armour
Oval oil on canvas
72.5 x 59 cm
82 x 68.5 cm with frame
Period carved and gilded wood frame with friezes
Restorations
Historical information
King Louis XIV (1638-1715) is portrayed in a three-quarter bust, his face turned to the right, wearing the Grand Cordon of the Holy Spirit on a fleurdelysed and chased suit of armour. He is wearing a lace cravat with red ribbon bows around his neck; wearing a large dark brown wig with thick curls falling over his shoulders, the king is sporting a fine moustache and staring at the viewer with majestic eyes. The king appears as a warlord and protector of the kingdom.
A partial repeat of the portrait painted by Le Brun in 1682
Our painting is a partial reproduction of the portrait "The King in armour with a helmet emblazoned" painted by Le Brun in 1682; this portrait, which has now disappeared, is known to historians through the partial copy of the portrait after Charles Le Brun, mentioned without an author's name and deposited since 1936 in the Musée historique de Strasbourg with the date of creation 1682-1700. Painted in bust form, the king wears fleurdelys armour, on which the blue cordon of the Holy Spirit stands out. The lace jabot and long wig counterbalance the martial severity of a king in his forties.
The same effigy of the king can be found in an engraving by Edelinck after Charles Le Brun, where the king's portrait is placed on the shield of Religion. The frontispiece for Abbé de Polignac's thesis, "L'Église victorieuse de l'hérésie ou le triomphe de la religion", was completed in June 1686 by Le Brun. The model was engraved by G. Edelinck, but never used for this thesis. The Musée du Louvre holds a drawing that is also directly related.
One of the last royal effigies designed by Le Brun
Twenty years before Rigaud's famous and sumptuous portrait of Louis XIV in 1701, which has gone down in history as an illustration of his reign, court painters were mainly concerned with portraying Louis XIV as an equestrian (such as the famous portrait by René-Antoine Houasse) or martial figure, celebrating the king as the victor of several military campaigns after being at war all over Europe. Among the most prominent painters, Nicolas Mignard (1606-1668) offered several depictions of Louis XIV as the god Mars, while Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) painted the king more realistically as a warlord in armour, portraits that made a strong impression on his contemporaries. The 1682 model used in the engraving would therefore be one of the last royal effigies designed by Le Brun, who was ousted by Louvois in favour of Pierre Mignard after Colbert's death in 1683.
It should not be confused with the portrait of Louis XIV circa 1661-1662 held at the Château de Versailles and attributed to Charles Le Brun because of an engraving by Antoine Masson along the same lines. Probably a fragment of the equestrian portrait painted by Charles Le Brun in 1662-1663, in honour of the attachment of Dunkirk to the kingdom, it is probably one of the first portraits Le Brun painted of the sovereign, whose reign was just beginning. It depicts Louis XIV at the beginning of his personal reign in the splendour of his youth.
Related works :
-After Charles Le Brun, Portrait of Louis XIV, oil on canvas, Oval 78 x 56 cm
Partial copy of the portrait "Le roi en armure avec un casque empanaché" painted by Le Brun in 1682. Former collection; mentioned, without author's name, in the 1837 guide, North wing, second floor, Portrait rooms, n°141-150; mentioned in the 1850 inventory in the Portrait room (n°146), North wing, attics.
Deposited with the Musée Historique de Strasbourg on 2 April 1936 - MV 3497
-Workshop of Charles Le Brun, Portrait of Louis XIV, oil on canvas, 84.2 x 65 cm.
Versailles, Châteaux of Versailles and Trianon, V.2019.65
-Attributed to Pierre Rabon (1619-1684) (after Le Brun) Portrait of Louis XIV on horseback, oil on canvas
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse,1668, inv 237
This work, attributed to Rabon after Le Brun, is immediately related to our painting, thanks to the many compositional details, including the royal figure, the large embroidery in the background and the chasing of the royal armour. It is the equestrian portrait of the King kept in the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai, celebrating the capture of the town in 1667 during the War of Devolution. According to tradition, it was given by the King to the town of Douai on the occasion of the capture of the town in 1668.
Bibliography
-E. Bellier de la Chavignerie and L. Auvray, Dictionnaire général des Artistes de l'Ecole française, Paris, 1885, T.II
-Lieutenant-Colonel Ch. Maumené and Count Louis d'Harcourt, Iconographie des rois de France, Archives de l'art français, Paris, 1928-1931, pp16-17
-Claire Constant, Musée national du château de Versailles, les peintures, Paris RMN, 1995
-Thierry Bajou, La peinture à Versailles XVIIe siècle, Paris, RMN, Buchet-Chastel, 1998
-Alexandre Gady, Versailles, The Making of a Masterpiece, Le Passage/Château de Versailles, Paris, 2011
-Chastagnol Karen & Vittet Jean. "Les portraits peints de Louis XIV au temps de Colbert (1663-1681)", in Versalia, Revue de la Société des Amis de Versailles, n°16, 2013. pp. 53-70.
-" Un portrait de Louis XIV attribué à Pierre Rabon pour Versailles " Bénédicte Bonnet Saint-Georges, in La Tribune de l'Art, Thursday 9 January 2020.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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