Relined canvas 91 cm by 71 cm
Superb period carved wooden frame 113 cm by 93 cm
This very beautiful portrait of a young man in the haughty posture is attributed to Henri Millot. He shows us, once again, the talent of this artist, a pupil of Largillière. The armour, the embroideries are magnificently represented and what about the face!... As for the background, we find this evanescence of the touch that the painter likes in the treatment of his landscapes. The whole, enhanced by a beautiful Regency period setting, is superb.
Henri Millot (born in Paris, died in 1759)
The works of Millot that have come down to us are rare, yet he is a painter of the very first order. He trained with Nicolas de Largillières from whom he was of course inspired a lot. Little is known about this painter of the first half of the 18th century, who began his career before 1699. We know that Millot signed as a friend the marriage contract of Largillière's cousin, Marie-Claude Hermant with Georges Rœttiers, the May 18, 1711. After a stay in Munich around 1721-1724, from which we keep the Portrait of Duke Gustave-Adolphe des Deux-Ponts (1722, Schleissheim museum), then in Strasbourg around 1730, Millot seems to settle again in Paris where he exhibited two portraits at the Salon of the Academy of Saint-Luc in 1756. Works in museums: Portrait of Jean de La Fontaine (1699), Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki Portrait of Duke Gustave-Adolphe des Deux-Ponts (1722 ), Schleissheim Palace Portrait of a Woman Holding a Mask (circa 1728-1730), Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Portrait of the Chevalier de Larralde d'Urtubie (1734), Urtubie Castle