Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu

Claude Mellan

Associated Names
Claude Mellan

Artist, French, 1598 - 1688

The image shows a man from the waist up seated behind a table. He is in a side profile position with his body slightly turned towards the viewer, holding a quill pen above a document. His facial features include a mustache and a patch of chin hair, with high cheekbones and a thoughtful expression. He has short, slightly wavy hair brushed back. The man is wearing an ornate robe with an embroidered cross on the chest and a decorative chain around his neck. A draped curtain with a tassel is behind him, and there is a view of a seascape in the background. Two cherubs with a laurel wreath are above him.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of John O'Brien

  • Dimensions

    plate: 35 x 24.3 cm (13 3/4 x 9 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 35.7 x 25 cm (14 1/16 x 9 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.164.35

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Montaiglon 1856, no. 320, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1856

  • Montaiglon, Anatole de. Catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre de Claude Mellan d'Abbeville. Abbeville: P.Briex, 1856.

1988

  • Préaud, Maxime. Inventaire du fonds français: Graveurs du XVIIe siècle, vol. 17 (Claude Mellan). Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1988, no. 347, state i/ii.

Inscriptions

on sheet of paper, lower left in plate: C.Mellan G. F; across bottom in plate: LE GRAND ARMAND CARD. DVC DE RICHELIEV: by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: C. 27823 M. 320 I

Wikidata ID

Q74895448

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