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Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743)

Portrait of Édouard Colbert de Villacerf (1728-1699)

Demande d'informations

Oil on canvas
82 x 66 cm
Delivred in 1701

We warmly thank Madame Ariane James-Sarazin, Hyacinthe Rigaud specialist, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this painting which she will include in her catalog raisonné. His analysis is available on request.cialist, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this painting which she will include in her catalog raisonné. His analysis is available on request.

This unpublished work betrays the talent of Rigaud delighting in representing the wise face of an old man.

This old man is Edouard Colbert, Marquis de Villacerf (1628-1699), superintendent and general authorizer of Buildings, Gardens, Arts and Manufactures of the king, successor to his famous cousin, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683).

The existence of this portrait was known thanks to the artist's account book. Its place of conservation was mentioned by the historian and biographer Joseph Roman (1840-1924) in "Le Livre de Raison du Peintre Hyacinthe Rigaud" published in 1919 but no one had a representation of it before today. This is the first time that this portrait has been offered for sale.

The Colbert family is a family of French nobility, descended from merchants and bankers established in Reims and Troyes in the 16th century. The younger line, the only branch remaining today, was the first to be ennobled in 1603 by purchasing the office of Advisor Secretary to the King. Edouard Colbert, Marquis de Villacerf, cousin of the great Colbert, was born in 1628 and died in Paris in 1699. Familiar with the Court from an early age, he succeeded Louvois as superintendent of buildings in 1691. Mazarin succeeded him after his death on October 17, 1699. He is portrayed here as an old man, certainly shortly before his death.

Certainly, his features are marked by the weight of the office and the years, and his entire attitude reveals his nobility and the authority inherent to his heavy office, but there emerges in his gaze a gentleness and a wisdom which are the prerogative of old age. Hyacinthe Rigaud, the greatest portraitist of the classical period, recognized in his time for his constant perfection, will have portrayed four generations of Bourbon.

His work is a catalog of the highest personalities of the kingdom of France: King, Queen, nobles, ministers, bourgeois and financiers, as well as some European monarchs who passed through his hands between 1680 and 1740. His works illustrate the glorious reign of Louis XIV and today populate the greatest museums in the world.

Demande d'informations à propos de Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) Portrait of Édouard Colbert de Villacerf (1728-1699)

 

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This unpublished work betrays the talent of Rigaud delighting in representing the wise face of an old man.

This old man is Edouard Colbert, Marquis de Villacerf (1628-1699), superintendent and general authorizer of Buildings, Gardens, Arts and Manufactures of the king, successor to his famous cousin, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683).

The existence of this portrait was known thanks to the artist's account book. Its place of conservation was mentioned by the historian and biographer Joseph Roman (1840-1924) in "Le Livre de Raison du Peintre Hyacinthe Rigaud" published in 1919 but no one had a representation of it before today. This is the first time that this portrait has been offered for sale.

The Colbert family is a family of French nobility, descended from merchants and bankers established in Reims and Troyes in the 16th century. The younger line, the only branch remaining today, was the first to be ennobled in 1603 by purchasing the office of Advisor Secretary to the King. Edouard Colbert, Marquis de Villacerf, cousin of the great Colbert, was born in 1628 and died in Paris in 1699. Familiar with the Court from an early age, he succeeded Louvois as superintendent of buildings in 1691. Mazarin succeeded him after his death on October 17, 1699. He is portrayed here as an old man, certainly shortly before his death.

Certainly, his features are marked by the weight of the office and the years, and his entire attitude reveals his nobility and the authority inherent to his heavy office, but there emerges in his gaze a gentleness and a wisdom which are the prerogative of old age. Hyacinthe Rigaud, the greatest portraitist of the classical period, recognized in his time for his constant perfection, will have portrayed four generations of Bourbon.

His work is a catalog of the highest personalities of the kingdom of France: King, Queen, nobles, ministers, bourgeois and financiers, as well as some European monarchs who passed through his hands between 1680 and 1740. His works illustrate the glorious reign of Louis XIV and today populate the greatest museums in the world.

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Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743)

Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743)

We warmly thank Madame Ariane James-Sarazin, Hyacinthe Rigaud specialist, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this painting which she will include in her catalog raisonné. His analysis is available on request.cialist, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this painting which she will include in her catalog raisonné. His analysis is available on request.