Portrait of a gentleman, workshop of Nicolas de Largilliere, circa 1690
Sublime portrait of a gentleman with a palette of rich and vivid colors.
He is depicted half-length, turned three-quarters, face to face. Soft and kind expression, the vivacity of the look, its calm serenity, grant an intense presence to the model.
Wearing a loose wig of curly, powdered hair, this flow of vaporous curls cascades over his shoulder and enhances his face with regular features, illuminated by intense lighting and delicately nuanced by the gray tones of his emerging beard.
Dressed in a shirt whose white lace collar can be seen, he wears a lapis blue velvet jacket with gold thread stripes and a moire silk lapel.
Wrapped in a large red velvet coat, embroidered with silver thread, lined with brocaded yellow silk, held on his chest by a stapled leather strap.
A delicate pink ribbon is passed through the collar of his shirt, the ends falling on the front like flying in the wind.
Intense lighting concentrated on the figure plunges the background of the portrait into darkness.
The dominant primary colors red and blue, chromatically opposed, are surprisingly harmonious and testify to the audacity of the artist who applies saturated colors to create a vibration of the material itself. The fabrics, the brushed velvet with ridges illuminated by generous serifs, the brocaded silk with a virtuoso brush, the lace and embroidery with a fine and precise design.
A successful dazzle by the brilliance of the colors and a refined execution.
French School circa 1690-1695
Workshop of Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746)
Oil on canvas in oval format
H. 80 cm, w. 62cm
Carved and giltwood orignal frame with flower bouquets
Framed dimensions: h. 106 cm, w. 85 cm
Our work painted in the studio of Nicolas de Largillière, is marked by a learned eclecticism characteristic of this Parisian master.
Inspired by the Antwerp Baroque masters Rubens and Van Dyck, the painter brings a spectacular dimension and seeks through the portrait to impress the viewer with its aesthetic and chromatic strength alone.
We find his colors and this excution of baroque tradition in several portraits of this period, such as
- Portrait of a gentleman, circa 1685, Chateau de Parentignat
- portrait of a gentleman, circa 1690, Atlanta Museum of Fine Arts
- portrait of a gentleman, Bemberg Foundation, Toulouse
- portrait of the Lord of Noirmont, National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon, Portugal