Canvas re-lined 82 cm by 65 cm
Beautiful old frame 104 cm by 87 cm
Superb and rare painting by Louis XIV attributed to Testelin around 1680-1690 The King is represented by In profile, he wears richly ornamented armor. Henri Testelin has represented the King with this black armor on a few occasions, but these paintings remain rare.
Henri Testelin (1616-1695)
He is the son of Gilles Testelin, painter to Louis XIII and the brother of Louis Testelin, also a painter. A pupil of Simon Vouet, he participated in the founding in 1648 of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. On this occasion, he gives as a reception piece a portrait of young Louis XIV that can still be admired in Versailles today. He became secretary then professor of the Academy to then be excluded as a Protestant (time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes). He exhibited at the Salon of 1673 a portrait of the King and the Queen His role was decisive in the development of the official doctrine of the arts, until its exclusion in 1681. With a great sense of pageantry he painted many court portraits and participated in the realization of the decorations of Versailles. Much of his work known to this day is in Versailles.