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UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Raad, AnD Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313n61-4700 800/521-0600 .1 '- CHARLES LEBRUN: PAINTING THE KING AND THE KING OF PAINTING SY MATTHEW DUPUIS DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY MCGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL A THESIS SUSMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS. © MATTHEW DUPUIS 1997 ( National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KlA ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 canada Canada Your" Vot,.., reftirenœ Our IVe Norre ref8rfJflœ The author bas granted a 000­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la NationaI Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic fonnats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fonnat électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts frOID it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othetwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son penmSSlon. autorisation. 0-612-29489-7 Canadrl TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 2 RÉSUMÉ , 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 5 INTRODUCTION 7 CHAPTER 1: PAINTING THE KING 14 CHAPTER Il: THE KING OF PAINTING 36 CONCLUSION 56 NOTES 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY 64 ILLUSTRATIONS 68 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the transformation in the representation of painters during Charles LeBrun's tenure as Life-Chancellor to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, from an initial definition in terms of the monarchy at Versailles ta one faunded on the practice of the art of painting. Ta promote the status of painters and painting, Louis XIV was celebrated as the protector of the arts in a royal portrait by Henri Testelin and was depicted as the ideal subject of art in paintings by Nicolas Loir and others. A painterJs stature was then derived from the skillful manner in which he painted the history of the King. Engraved portraits accompanied by verse of Charles LeBrun and Adam Frans Van der Meulen identify allegorical painters as more distinguished than those who painted in a natural style. In both cases, Louis XIV is posited as being the source, subject, and eloquence of the art celebrating his achievements. Nicolas de Largillierre's Portrait of Charles Lebrun is modeled on Testelin's royal portrait and offers a portrayal of the artist which advocates service to the monarchy, but it grounds aesthetic activity in the body of the painter. This conception of LeBrun, in turn, serves as a paradigm for Pierre Mignard to create a self-portrait that proclaims his status in relation to the art of painting rather than through service ta the King. 2 RÉSUMÉ Cette thèse examine la transformation dans la représentation pictural à partir de la nomination de Charles LeBrun au poste de Chancelier de l'Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture: l'évolution d'une peinture définie par la Monarchie de Versailles à l'une fondée sur l'exercice de l'art de peindre. Afin de promouvoir le statut des peintres ainsi de la peinture, Louis XIV fut célébré comme le protecteur des arts dans un portrait executé par Henri Testelin ainsi que considéré comme le sujet-idéal des peint de Nicolas Loir entre autres. La notoriété du peintre était alors fondée sur la manière dont était décrite l'histoire du Roi. Les portraits gravés accompagniés des vers de Charles LeBrun ou de Adam Frans Van der Meulen décrivent les peintres allégoriques comme plus distigués que ceux utilisant un style plus naturel. Dans les deux cas, Louis XIV est tout de même considéré comme étant la source, le sujet et le discours d'un art célébrant ses propres réalisations. Le Portrait de Charles LeBrun réalisé par Nicolas de Largillierre, le fut utilisant comme modèle le portrait royal de Testelin; il offre un portrait de l'artiste comme étant au service de la Monarchie, tout en établissant l'activité aesthétique au niveau du choix de l'artiste. Cette conception de LeBrun sert de paradigme pour Pierre Mignard, qui créé un autoportrait qui proclamme son statut de peintre en relation à la peinture et non plus en une service du Roi. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 wish ta thank the faculty, professional. and support staff at the Department of Art History for their efforts on my behalf throughout my studies at McGiII University. 1am particularly indebted ta Professor Tom Glen for allowing me the freedom to explore my ideas and for his guidance in expressing them. His editorial assistance in the preparation of this thesis was especially valuable. Bien sûr, although it goes without saying, 1wish to thank my wife, Nancy Drummond, for her encouragement and endless support. 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Nicolas de Largillierre. Charles LeBrun. C. 1684. Oil on canvas. Munich, Pinacothèque, Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen. Source: Myra Nan Rosenfeld, Largillierre: Portraitiste du Dix-huitième Siècle, (Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1982): 184. 2. Henri Testelin. Louis XIV as Protector of the Arts. 1666-68. ail on canvas. Versailles, Musée national du château. Source: Rosenfeld, 185. 3. Charles LeBrun. Painting Working for the Glory of Louis XIV. Drawing. Paris, Musée du Louvre. Source: Pierre Georgel and Anne-Marie Lecoq, La Peinture dans la Peinture, (Paris: Adam-Biro, 1987): 47. 4. G. Audran. La Peinture peignant un enblème de Louis XIV. Engraving after Claude Audran II. Dijon. Musée des Beaux arts. Source: Georgel and Lecoq, 46. 5. Nicolas Loir. Progress of the Graphie Arts in France. 1666. Oil on canvas. Compiègne, Musée Vivenal. Source: Antoine Schnapper, "De Nicolas Loir à Jean Jouvenet,Il Revue du Louvre (1962) No. 3: 116. 6. Charles LeBrun. Louis XIV Visiting the Gobelins. 1673-79. Tapestry. Paris, Musée de Gobelins. Source: Charles Le Brun: Premier Directeur de la Manufacture Royale des Gobelins, (Paris: Musée de Gobelins, 1962): 33. 7. Adam Frans Van der Meulen. Louis XIV as Commander in a Cavalry Engagement. ail on canvas. Zurich, Frau Theano Staehelin Kunsthandel. Source: Burlington Magazine 128 (October 1986): xi. 8. Adam Frans Van der Meulen. Louis XIV and his Generais at the Siege of Lille. Oil on canvas. Zurich, Frau Theano Staehelin Kunsthandel. Source: Burlington Magazine 128 (October 1986): xi. 9. Pierre van Schuppen. Adam Frans Van der Meulen. 1687. Engraving after Nicolas de Largillierre. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes. Source: Rosenfeld, 30. 10. Gerard Edelinck. Charles LeBrun. 1684. Engraving after Nicolas de Largillierre. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Estampes. Source: Rosenfeld, 184. 5 11 . Charles LeBrun. Queens of Persia at the Feet of Alexander. 1660-61. Oil on canvas. Versailles, Musée national du château. Source: André Chastel, L'Art Francais: Ancien Régime. 1620-1775, (Paris: Flammarion, 1995): 199. 12. Charles LeBrun. Protection Accorded to the Fine Arts. 1681-84. Oil on canvas. Palace of Versailles, Galerie des Glâces. Source: W. Vitzthum and S. Hoog, Chartes LeBrun à Versailles: La Galerie des Glaces, (Paris: Hachette, Fabbri, Skira, 1969): 34. 13. Nicolas de Largillierre. Portrait of Charles LeBrun. 1683-86. Oil on canvas. Paris, Musée de Louvre. Source: Chastel, 196. 14. Nicolas de Largillierre. Portrait of Charles LeBrun (detail). 1683-86. Oil on canvas. Paris, Musée du Louvre. Source: author's photograph. 15. Charles LeBrun. Franche-Comté Conguered for the Second Time. C. 1674. Oil on canvas. Versailles, Musée national du château. Source: Chastel, 197. 16. Pierre Mignard. Self-Portrait, 1690. Oil on canvas. Paris, Musée du Louvre. Source: Chastel, 200. 17. Nicolas de Largillierre. Self-Portrait. 1714. Oil on canvas. Versailes, Musée national du château. Source: Rosenfeld, 46. 18. Antoine Watteau. L'Enseigne de Gersaint. 1720. Oil on canvas. Berlin, Charlottenburg Palace. Source: Donald Posner, Antoine Watteau (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984): 234. 6 INTRODUCTION ln the portrait bust of Charles LeBrun by Nicolas de Largillierre, now in Munich, LeBrun is delicately turning the medallion worn around his neck with the thumb and index finger of his left hand ta present ifs face to the beholder (Fig. 1). By drawing the viewer's attention to the medallion in this mannert LeBrun indicates the importance he places upon it, and the viewer's acknowledgement of his possession of it.