Portrait Of An Architect With A Compass; Oil On Canvas, Signed And Dated 1757; 18th Century.

Portrait of an architect depicted from the waist up against a dark background, wearing a red coat with covered buttons and a shirt adorned with a ruff and lace cuffs.
The figure holds before him an architectural drawing that is particularly interesting for the technical elements depicted in it. The lower portion shows the floor plan of a building, with the layout of the walls, several openings, and a stairwell. The upper portion shows a sectional elevation of the building’s framework. A graphic scale is also depicted on the side of the drawing. The architect holds an open compass in his left hand.
The architectural drawing and the compass thus play a prominent role in the composition and reveal the model’s profession. The clothing is rendered in detail, particularly the buttons on the coat as well as the lace on the ruff and cuffs, whose various patterns are carefully depicted.
The face stands out against a very dark brown background. The gray hair, worn medium-length and slightly wavy, frames the face. The overall effect is typical of mid-18th-century male portraiture.
The painting is in good condition. It remains on its original, unstretched canvas and retains its original wooden stretcher with fixed joints. We note no repainting or visible historical restorations. A few small, isolated losses in the paint layer, as well as a network of craquelure due to the painting’s age, are worth noting.
The canvas bears a signature, the reading of which remains to be determined, as well as the date “1757.”
The painting is set in an 18th-century frame made of molded and gilded softwood. The molding is coated with a thin layer of primer applied in a repaire technique, featuring a foliage motif in the style of Bérain, with engraved and checkered backgrounds. The gilding shows some wear and a few small, old losses.
Mid-18th century, signed and dated 1757.
Dimensions:Viewable area: 90 × 70 cmWith frame: 101.5 × 81.5 cm