Born the son of a hatmaker, Nicolas de Largillière became one of the most influential and successful portraitists of the second half of Louis XIV’s reign. His bourgeois and aristocratic clientele included dukes and duchesses, financiers, magistrates and connoisseurs. The particular identity of the sitter shown here remains to be confirmed. He may be Pierre LePautre, a master mason and sculptor, who gestures toward an urn possibly inspired by his own design.
In the lower left foreground, a large and colorful macaw parrot nibbles on a treat. Indigenous to Central and South America, macaws were introduced to Europe through the expansion of colonial trade routes across the Atlantic. They quickly became coveted for their striking hues, intelligence and rarity. Vividly colored items like the red sash and the parrot’s plumage signal the sitter’s luxurious taste and wealth.
Details
- Artist Name: Nicolas de Largillière (French, 1656-1746)
- Title: Possibly a Portrait of Pierre LePautre, Sculptor
- Date: 1689
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 64-1/4 x 50-3/4 in. (163.2 x 128.9 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.2013.1.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
William Howard Taft (1857-1930), Cincinnati and Washington, D.C.
Joseph Levy, New York.
[Central Casino, Inc., sold 7 October 1960 to];
[Duveen Bros., New York, stock no. 30352, sold 1965 to;]
The Norton Simon Foundation, transferred in November 2013 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Suggested Additions
- Milwaukee Art Center, 1963-05-08 to 1963-06-09
The Inner Circle
- Milwaukee Art Center, 1966-09-15 to 1966-10-23
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- Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963-10-01 to 1963-11-10
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
Three Centuries of French Art: Selections from The Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art and The Norton Simon Foundation_1
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1973-05-03 to 1976-06-15
Lock, Stock and Barrel: Norton Simon's Purchase of Duveen Brothers Gallery
- Norton Simon Museum, 2014-10-24 to 2015-02-16
- American Art News, p. 7
- Saisselin, Rémy G., Apollo, p. 282
- Key, D., Milwaukee Journal, 1963, no. 55
- Rosenfeld, M., Largillière and the Eighteenth-Century Portrait, 1982, pp. 102-103
- de Lastic, G., L'oeil, 1984, no. 323 p. 27
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 87
- Colnaghi, P., A Collector's Miscellany: European Paintings. 1600-1800, 1990, p. 28
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. D31 p. 443
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