Louis Michel Van Loo (1707; 1771) Attributed. Portrait Of The Dauphin Of France Around 1760.

Louis Michel van Loo (1707; 1771) attributed. Portrait of the Dauphin of France, eldest son of Louis Marie Leszczynska, who should have become the future Louis XVI if a premature death had not taken her away in 1765 at the age of 36. He was therefore not able to reign but he is the father of three kings of France: Louis XVI; Louis XVIII and Charles X.

Louis Michel van Loo (1707; 1771)

Coming from the van Loo dynasty established in France in the 17th century, Louis Michel Van Loo studied under the direction of his father, the painter Jean Baptiste van Loo, in Turin and Rome. He won the prize of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1725 with his Moses as a child bringing down the Pharaoh's crown. He then stayed in Rome from 1727 to 1732 with his uncle, the painter Charles Andre Van Loo (1705; 1765). In 1736, he became the official court painter of Philip V of Spain in Madrid following the death of his predecessor Jean Ranc, and was one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in 1752. 1753, he returned to France and painted several portraits of Louis XV and his entourage. In 1765, he succeeded his uncle Carle as director of the School for Protected Students. He is the brother of the painters François van Loo and Charles Amédée van Loo.