Nicolas de Largillierre

Largillière, Nicolas de

French, 1656 - 1746

Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution – Share Alike License

French painter (1656–1746)

Explore Selected Works

Shown from about the lap up, a woman with light skin sits facing us as she wears a voluminous garment that covers her head and forehead beneath a black veil that falls over and past her shoulders in this vertical portrait painting. The light comes from our left, illuminating her smooth skin and flushed cheeks. She looks at us with gray eyes under gently arched brows. Her coral-pink lips are closed and possibly pulled back slightly at the corners. Her garment is pleated across the chest and sleeves to fall in full folds over her arms. A wide panel covers her shoulders, the sides of her neck, and head, and a white band crosses her forehead. The semi-transparent black veil creates a stiff peak over her head where it attaches to the top of this garment, called a wimple. Her right hand, on our left, rests in her lap and her index finger marks her spot in the small book she holds. The other hand is presumably tucked under the folds of her garment. The background behind her is peanut brown, and a diagonal line suggests a curtain pulled to our right. An inscription in capital gold letters spans the right half of the painting along the top edge: “ELIZABETH DAUGHTER OF SR ROBT THROCKMORTON BART.”
Nicolas de Largillierre, Elizabeth Throckmorton, Canoness of the Order of the Dames Augustines Anglaises, 1729, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1964.20.1

Elizabeth Throckmorton, Canoness of the Order of the Dames Augustines Anglaises

Nicolas de Largillierre · 1729 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1964.20.1

Nicolas de Largillierre, Self-Portrait, 1707, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2006.26.1

Self-Portrait

Nicolas de Largillierre · 1707 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2006.26.1

An older man, a young man, and a dog stand on a verandah that opens onto a landscape in this vertical portrait painting. The men are pale skinned and shown from the knees up. The older man stands on the left with his head turned to look off in that direction. Long, silver-gray hair frames his flushed face. Bushy brows curve over his dark gray eyes, and deep creases line his long nose. His plump pink lips are closed between a thin white mustache above and a dot of a beard below. A long white collar hangs down the chest of his lead-gray jacket. His right sleeve, on our left, is turned back to show the cuff of a puffy-sleeved white shirt underneath. That hand holds gleaming velvet-black fabric, which is gathered at his waist and falls to his knees. His other hand rests on the shoulder of the young man to our right. That man’s oval face is framed by thick, shoulder-length, curly, chestnut-brown hair. He gazes at us with amber eyes under slender brows. He has flushed cheeks, a narrow nose, and coral-red lips are slightly parted. A bright orange ribbon tied under a white brocaded ascot around his neck is wider than his face. His russet-brown jacket is unbuttoned to show an embroidered gold and azure-blue vest underneath. A wide pink sash is fastened around his left elbow, on our right, and billowing white sleeves extend from the shorter sleeves of the jacket. He holds his right hand, to our left, palm up with his index finger extended toward the dog in front of him, who has turned to look up. Shown from the back, the dog has long, glossy, coffee-brown fur with some white streaks. The young man’s other hand rests on a chipped stone balustrade next to him. The artist signed and dated the work as if he had carved the front face of the balustrade to read, “N. De Largillierre F. 1685.” Two stone columns rise to either side of the young man and give way to a tree-filled landscape under a muted blue sky above.
Nicolas de Largillierre, Portrait of a Young Man and His Tutor, 1685, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.26

Portrait of a Young Man and His Tutor

Nicolas de Largillierre · 1685 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.9.26

Bibliography

1755

  • Dézallier d'Argenville, Antoine-Nicolas. Voyages pittoresque des environs de Paris ou description des maisons royales. Paris, 1755.

1928

  • Pascal, Georges. Largillierre. Paris, 1928.

1982

  • Lastic, Georges de. "Largillierre et ses modèles: problèmes d'iconographie." L'Oeil 323 (June 1982): 24-31, 73-82.

  • Rosenfeld, Myra Nan. Largillierre and the Eighteenth-Century Portrait. Exh. cat. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, 1981. Montreal, 1982.

1984

  • Rosenfeld, Myra Nan. "Largillierre: problèmes de méthodologie." Revue de l'Art 66 (1984): 69-73.

1996

  • Opperman, Hal N. "Nicolas de Largillierre." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 18:787-790

2003

  • Nicolas de Largillierre. 1656-1746. Exh. cat. Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 2003.

2009

  • Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: 292-293.