Victor Bouthillier.

item details

NameVictor Bouthillier.

ProductionRobert Nanteuil; engraver (printmaker); 1651; France
Philippe de Champaigne; after

Classificationprints, engravings, stipple engravings, portraits, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summaryengraving and stipple engraving

Techniquesengraving, stipple engraving

DimensionsImage: 242mm (width), 317mm (height)

Registration Number1869-0001-336

Credit lineGift of Bishop Monrad, 1869

Overview

Robert Nanteuil (1623 or 1630–1678) was a French portrait artist: engraver, draughtsman and pastellist to the court of Louis XIV. His crayon drawings and prints quickly earned him a reputation as the most sought-after portraitist of his time, and he was appointed designer and engraver of the cabinet of King Louis XIV. It was mainly due to his influence that the king granted the edict of 1660, by which engraving was pronounced free and distinct from the mechanical arts, and its practitioners were declared entitled to the privileges of other artists. Nanteuil's clientele included the King Sun himself, Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Christina of Sweden and many other high-ranking aristocrats and personages of note.

The plates of Nanteuil, several of them approaching lifesize scale, number about 300. In his early practice he imitated the technique of his predecessors, working with straight lines, strengthened, but not crossed, in the shadows, in the style of Claude Mellan and in other prints cross-hatching like Regnesson, or stippling in the manner of Jean Boulanger; but he gradually asserted his full individuality, modelling the faces of his portraits with the utmost precision and completeness, and employing various methods of touch for the draperies and other parts of his plates. These qualities are already becoming evident in this immaculate, early career portrait engraving.

It is based on an original painting, facing the opposite direction, by Philippe de Champaigne (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours) who was the Brussels-born leading figure in French portraiture during the mid-17th century. His style is a highly restrained, austere, classical Baroque, distinguished by its stern strength and psychological acuity. This is no exception. Victor Le Bouthillier (1590-1670) was a French politician and Archbishop of Tours. It was mistakenly called 'Cardinal Victor Bouthillier' because of the depiction of a cardinal's hat on the armorial shield immediately below the portait; it possibly indicated his aspirations.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nanteuil\

Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art June 2017