Louis De Silvestre, Portrait Of Baron Pierre De Gaultier

Louis De Silvestre, Portrait Of Baron Pierre De GaultierThis sumptuous early 18th century portrait by leading French artist Louis de Silvestre (1675 1760) depicts Baron Pierre de Gaultier, a nobleman and diplomat active during the final years of Louis XIV and the Regency of Philippe dOrlans. Carrying a sense of calm self assurance, hes a man of cultivated taste. His blue justaucorps, embroidered with gold, conveys rank, while his crimson cloak, ostentatiously lined with gold fabric, rests across his left

He lived through two civil wars

they’re more atmospheric than the originals due to their lack of colour

Here we see him holding lilies - a reference to innocence

and ochre pigment

a group of radical French artists sought to rebel against such constraints by escaping from the confines of Paris and working directly in the forest of nearby Fontainebleau

Labels & Inscriptions: The reverse bears a previous attribution to Jacob Esselens (1626-1687)

the light conjures a dark orange glow transforming the Autumnal plains into otherworldly topography

from which the young aspirant opted for the latter

Refers to Leo Pauly

We particular love the flowers

and Harper's New Monthly Magazine

Year of creation: 1945