Portrait of a Man
Artist: Nicolas de Largillière (French, 1656-1746)
Date: 1703
Dimensions:
H: 57 3/4 in. (146.7 cm); W: 45 1/4 in. (114.4 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1955.35
Label Text:Although the identities of the man and woman in this portrait are unknown, the painting was probably meant to commemorate their liaison, possibly even their marriage. The cherub (is he also a portrait of a specific child?) holding an apple is an allusion to the theme of love, perhaps suggesting the judgment of Paris, the Trojan prince who awarded a golden apple to Venus as the fairest of three goddesses.
Nicolas de Largillière’s portraits focused on the middle-class professionals and civic leaders who were becoming art patrons in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He combined naturalism learned from training in Flanders and England with the tradition of ideal beauty valued in allegorical French court portraiture. This canvas represents a change in his style after 1700, when his portraits began to have a greater intimacy and express a new Rococo sensibility. Figures are closer to the picture plane, and warm colors, like the orange, scarlet, and reds here, accent the sitter and surrounding details.
Nicolas de Largillière’s portraits focused on the middle-class professionals and civic leaders who were becoming art patrons in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He combined naturalism learned from training in Flanders and England with the tradition of ideal beauty valued in allegorical French court portraiture. This canvas represents a change in his style after 1700, when his portraits began to have a greater intimacy and express a new Rococo sensibility. Figures are closer to the picture plane, and warm colors, like the orange, scarlet, and reds here, accent the sitter and surrounding details.
Not on view
In Collection(s)