Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Parigi 1743)

Attributable to Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) Portrait of the painter Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716) oil on canvas (cm. 60 x 52/ In precious frame cm. 113 x 78) Full details at the following - link - The portrayed figure in the present painting is the painter Charles de La Fosse (1636 - 1716), known as the "best decorative painter of his time", a pupil in Paris of Charles Le Brun and also his close collaborator in the decoration works carried out under Louis XIV. This is a painting that we are inclined to place in the early eighteenth century and attributable to the painter Hyacinthe RIGAUD (Perpignan 1659 - Paris 1743) - or for scruple to an author active within his prolific workshop - one of the most significant portrait painters of his time and a great interpreter of the French school having worked almost exclusively in the courts of Louis XIV and then Louis XV. Linked by a strong friendship, Rigaud took his fellow painter as a model on numerous occasions: the first of these portraits is the one he painted on oval canvas in 1681 and today in a private Parisian collection [1], although the best known is the one now kept in Berlin at Charlottenburg Castle [2], which Rigaud exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1704. Perhaps also thanks to the success he had with this painting, many others followed, including the portrait now kept at the Pinacoteca of the Castello Sforzesco [3] - which finds the greatest stylistic similarities with our painting - and also that of a Private Collection, which passed through the antique market in 1979 (Paris, Palais d'Orsay, 7 December, n. 40) In addition to the famous official portraits of sovereigns, members of the French high aristocracy and the French clergy, Rigaud has in fact often done his best in portraits of his artist friends where, as in our case, he managed to combine elegant dignity with great intimacy, an aspect that we can for example grasp in the detail of the unbuttoned shirt, which translates an evident affectionate sympathy towards the model. In works like these we can grasp the sensitivity of Rigaud, who becomes a fine psychologist, a delicate, flexible and virtuous artist. The effigy shows the painter in a relaxed pose, his gaze turned to the right lost out of the composition, but full of great humanity. It is therefore a work of remarkable formal and aesthetic elegance. Note the rendering of the facial features, the sharpness of the contours underlined by the light and the expressive strength of the eyes accentuated by the realism of the facial features. [1] Portrait of Charles de La Fosse, Rigaud Hyacinthe Private collection (oil o val canvas, 83x66, Paris URL: https://www.hyacinthe-rigaud.com/catalogue-raisonne-hyacinthe-rigaud/portraits/50-la-fosse-charles-d... [2] Portrait of Charles de La Fosse, Rigaud Hyacinthe (Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg). Inv. GKI 2625 URL: https://www.hyacinthe-rigaud.com/catalogue-raisonne-hyacinthe-rigaud/portraits/327-la-fosse-charles-... [3] Portrait of Charles de La Fosse, Rigaud Hyacinthe (Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco) URL: https://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/opere-arte/schede/B0020-00486/ The work is presented in a good state of preservation and is completed by a magnificent antique carved wooden frame. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The painting is sold with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet. We take care of and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. Contact us for any information, we will be happy to answer you. Follow us also on: https://www.instagram.com/galleriacastelbarco/?hl=it https://www.facebook.com/galleriacastelbarco/