Nicolas Pierre Loir: Preparatory Drawing For The Frontispiece Of A Book

Preparatory drawing for the frontispiece of a book on the arts, signed in sanguine lower right on a base by "LOIR PEINTRE"
Nicolas Pierre Loir was born in Paris in 1624 (the day is not known), within a family of goldsmiths. He was the eldest son of Nicolas Ier Loir, silversmith from October 29, 1616.
He was first a pupil of Sébastien Bourdon and Simon Vouet, then became a disciple of Nicolas Poussin.
From 1647 to 1649 he stayed in Italy. There he discovered the works of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), which struck him very much. He painted so many works inspired by the master.
In 1650, he returned to Paris and worked for the "Compagnie des Orfèvres", dealing with Notre-Dame Cathedral. Along with orders from individuals, he painted altarpieces and paintings of various religious buildings.
In 1663, he entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture thanks to the support of Charles Le Brun and King Louis XIV. Dormouse at the Academy will be the first professor and then rector. However, he only presented his "Acceptance Text" to the Academy in 1666, "The Progress of Painting and Sculpture under Louis XIV".
Loir also worked for the Manufacture des Gobelins, the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and at the Tuileries, where he made many ceilings, which have since disappeared, and at Versailles where he painted seven paintings for the Queen's apartment. Maria Theresa of Austria (1638-1683); one of them is currently kept at the Musée de Brou in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Nicolas Loir died in Paris in 1679 at the age of 55.