Portrait Of A President At Mortier French School Circa 1

Portrait of a President of the Parliament of Paris, circa 1700-1710. French School, circle of Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743), close to Jean Ranc (1674–1735). Portrait of a President of the Parliament of Paris, probably a member of the Lamoignon family. Oil on canvas. Antique carved and gilded wooden frame from the Restoration period. This portrait depicts a high-ranking magistrate wearing the characteristic red robe of the Presidents of the Parliament of Paris, one of the highest judicial offices under the Ancien Régime. The model is depicted half-length, slightly turned, wearing the large judicial wig and the white lace collar that distinguishes parliamentary portraits of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The composition, of great sobriety, focuses attention on the model's physiognomy and the amplitude of the red drapery, treated with vigor and enlivened with deep reflections. The monumental structure of the wig, the solid modeling of the face, and the characteristic lighting place the work within the tradition of the grand Parisian official portrait developed around 1700 in the orbit of the famous court portraitist Hyacinthe Rigaud. Through the construction of volumes and the ample treatment of drapery, the painting also displays stylistic affinities with the manner of Jean Ranc, a pupil of Rigaud who was active in Paris at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries before his departure for the Spanish court in 1722. The iconography corresponds to portraits commissioned by the great Parisian legal families to adorn the galleries of their private mansions. The sitter's features and parliamentary attire possibly suggest a member of the prestigious Lamoignon family, a dynasty of magistrates who held the highest offices in the Parliament of Paris for several generations. An old inscription, "Rigaud," appears on the reverse of the canvas, attesting to a long-standing tradition of attributing the work to the master's workshop. A characteristic example of French parliamentary portraiture at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Canvas restored and relined. Height 86 cm, Width 73 cm