ROBERT NANTEUIL
1630-1678
ByLOUIS R. METCALFE
IT is a curious fact that in these days of exhaustive research in everything which concerns the fine arts, Robert Nanteuil, the portrait-engraver of Louis XIV, has remained until so recently both illustrious and unknown. To be sure, his name has been mentioned in all the histories of art, and in the text-books of engraving he is dwelt upon at some length and given a prominent place among the engravers of his time; but he was never found worthy of any especial study, of the least littlebrochure. His name has been familiar only to the connoisseurs and the print-collectors; to them it has always been synonymous with the greatest excellence attained by the lost art of line-engraving.
This silence was broken finally in the artist’s own birthplace. In 1884 Mr. Charles Loriquet, curator of the library of the city of Rheims, who had just completed a collection of Nanteuil’s portraits for the city museum, addressed the Academy at one of its public sittings and eloquently pleaded with the authorities to erect a monument to him whom he considered second only to the great Colbert as the most illustrious son of Rheims. His description of the artist and his work created such enthusiasm that he was later inducedto publish it, together with some interesting documents concerning Nanteuil. The unique little book found its way into many libraries, private as well as public, and has ever since been unfindable.
Many new books on engraving have appeared since that day which have devoted as much as two or three pages to this brilliant artist without, however, giving his work more than a superficial criticism. It was not until Mr. T. H. Thomas published his recent work “French Portrait Engravers of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” that the artist received proper recognition. Nanteuil is here frankly recognized as one of the most admirable figures in the history of art, and proclaimed not only prince of portrait-engravers but also a great artist among the portrait-makers of all times. The thirty pages which are devoted to him constitute the most brilliant and thorough criticism that has ever been made of a line-engraver,—they are a splendid analysis of the artist’s technique, his development, his influence on his contemporaries, and the exalted position which he occupied among them. Without doubt many readers of that interesting work will wonder why they never had before heard of such an important artist.
It was only four years ago that I for one made his acquaintance. While I was looking through a large collection of old engraved portraits, one head in particular arrested my attention; it was drawn with such rare precision, modeled with suchmaestria, it had such expressive eyes and mouth, that it made all the other portraits seem flat and lifeless. My admiration turned into wonderment when I saw by the signaturethat the artist had drawn it from life as well as engraved it. I had known the work of only those showy engravers who, in the time of Louis XV, were content to copy the work of the leading painters of the day and improve on it if they could. There was notraduttore traditoreabout this expressive portrait; here was something of a very different order. The artist was a real portrait-maker, a student of character, a worthy comrade of Holbein, a draughtsman whose ambition it was first to represent the subject as he really looked, then to make as fine an engraved plate as possible.
The text-books on engraving which fell into my hands informed me of the rank he had occupied in that famous school of engraving established by Louis XIV and of the great number of prominent people he had drawn from life. That was enough to whet my curiosity to the limit, for my interest in physiognomy had become a passion, and whenever I had found in the galleries of Europe a convincing portrait of a well-known historical personage, my delight had been keen. Holbeins, Van Dycks, Mierevelts and Quentin de Latours had been for years the objects of my enthusiasm; they were living documents, revelations of personalities such as few memoirs provided. When the catalogue of Robert-Dumesnil, the only complete list of Nanteuil’s portraits, had informed me that Nanteuil’s models had been in great part the men who had given so much greatness to the reign of the most splendid of modern potentates, I felt that the collection must constitute an historical document of no mean interest, if the likenesses of those celebritieswere as convincing as that of the obscureLouis Hesselin, Président de la Chambre des Deniers, which I now owned.
But it was not until I had pored over the contents of six huge volumes containing his complete works, at the Cabinet des Estampes of the Bibliothèque Nationale, that I realized what a unique achievement had been that of the engraver from Rheims. He had made, it seems, a multitude of drawings from life of his contemporaries, in pencil, silverpoint, crayons, and pastels, from the King himself down to the humblest curé of his parish, and had then engraved many of them on copper, securing thereby so many impressions that although almost all of his original drawings have disappeared, his work has been perpetuated for all times. (Whoever has said that a multitude of sheets of paper scattered among the museums of the world constituted a monument more enduring than the pyramids, must have been a collector, for he realized with how much jealousy a treasure can be guarded.) Throughout all this work Nanteuil exhibited such power as a draughtsman that his portraits won international fame for their resemblance, and moreover he engraved with such perfection that his work and the influence he exerted over the great school formed by Louis XIV mark the Golden Age of Line-engraving.
It is therefore in a dual capacity that Nanteuil must be admired, and this point has not been sufficiently emphasized by his critics. He is an inspiring example of a man who has set out to do only one thing (for he never attempted anything but heads)—but has learned to do it so well that he rises far above hisrivals and has made his name a synonym for supreme excellence. To carry the engraved portrait to its greatest possible perfection had been his ambition, and he succeeded in this, for it is not possible to imagine the burin producing more decided color, greater fullness of tone, and finer finish than can be found in a great many portraits by Nanteuil. It can be said that he used the sharp metal point with the same freedom as a great painter uses a brush; his technique was so elastic and susceptible of modification that he was enabled to test to the fullest extent the possibilities of his medium and to determine its limitations.
When one is lucky enough to have the wonderful collections of the Cabinet des Estampes at his disposal, the next thing to do after having seen the works of Nanteuil is to examine those of his contemporaries. It becomes perfectly clear which artists have influenced him, and to what extent; it will also be evident at a glance that he influenced all the rest. This study, however superficial, will take several days, for the number ofpeintre-graveursencouraged by Louis XIV through the indefatigable Colbert was great, and their work was enormous. Edelinck, who until recently has been better known than Nanteuil, was extremely prolific, and Pitau, the Poillys, Masson, Lombart, and Van Schuppen, to say nothing of Mellan and Morin among many others, produced a great many portraits. What a collection! What a complete iconography ofle grand siècle! Here is everybody who was at all prominent in the most civilized country of the time. Is it possible not to develop a love of portraiture, a strong interest in engraving and a desire to collect engraved portraits, of all picturesthe most convenient, the most possible to acquire and keep in large numbers?
I am reminded of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys as well as of the abbé Michel de Marolles, who were the first great or systematic collectors of engraved portraits, the Frenchman owning twenty thousand prints and all the portraits extant. Evelyn wrote to Pepys advising him to collect them, for, as he said, “some are so well done to the life that they may stand in competition with the best paintings.” He then adds: “This were a cheaper and so much a more useful curiosity as they seldom are without their names, ages and eulogies of the persons whose portraits they represent. I say you will be exceedingly pleased to contemplate the effigies of those who have made such a noise and bustle in the world, either by their madness and folly, or a more conspicuous figure by their wit and learning. They will greatly refresh you in your study and by your fireside when you are many years returned.” We later see him write in his “Diary” that he had “sat to the great Nanteuil who had been knighted by the king for his art” and had considered himself “unworthy of being included in that gallery of models whom Nanteuil’s art has made famous.” We know by his own “Diary” that Pepys became an enthusiastic collector and that he went over to Paris to buy many prints by the great engraver, at a later date commissioning his wife to secure for him many more which he strongly desired.
Portrait-painting had at that time become a mania, and there was no one of any prominence who did not wish to leave to posterity a record of his physical appearance. Richelieu in a single order had called foran entire gallery full of portraits of celebrities. The Frenchpeintre-graveursproved how effectively color could be translated into black and white, and by revealing the true relation of engraving to painting shared the fame of their contemporaries in the other arts.
It is not possible for the lover of prints to glance at this interminable gallery and not be amazed at the number of portraits which show much originality in their treatment and infinite skill in their execution, but I defy the admirer of truth in art not to be impressed by the small number of those by other engravers which are distinguished by both simplicity and conviction. The heads of Mellan, which were drawn with as few lines as possible, remain absurdly unique, and the etched portraits of Morin, who was a faithful translator of Philippe de Champaigne, are too personal for comparison. But the mass of thepeintre-graveursgive constant proofs of having been influenced by Nanteuil’s method, and in the case of Van Schuppen there is a very close following indeed in the master’s footsteps. He is supposed to have been his favorite pupil.
Nevertheless, Edelinck, brilliant colorist as he was and a wonderfully clever artist with his burin, refused to do any original work and too frequently attempted to add vigor and brilliancy to the portraits he copied. In modeling his faces he, in the opinion of Nanteuil himself, broke his lines unnecessarily. The work of Masson lacks quiet and balance, when his faces are not out of drawing, while that of the rest of the school displays that great vitality and style which made it a model for all the artists of the followingcentury, without, however, combining these qualities with the solidity, consummate science, and restraint which characterize almost all Nanteuil’s portraits.
Nanteuil. Louis XIVEngraved in 1666 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeLouis XIV was twenty-eight years of age when this portraitwas engraved“In appearance Louis, though admirably proportioned, was slightly below the middle height. His eyes were blue, his nose long and well formed. His hair, which was remarkable for its abundance, was allowed to fall over his shoulders. With his handsome features and his serious—perhaps phlegmatic—expression he seemed admirably fitted to play the part of a monarch.”Arthur Hassall.Louis XIV.Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Nanteuil. Louis XIV
Engraved in 1666 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeLouis XIV was twenty-eight years of age when this portraitwas engraved
“In appearance Louis, though admirably proportioned, was slightly below the middle height. His eyes were blue, his nose long and well formed. His hair, which was remarkable for its abundance, was allowed to fall over his shoulders. With his handsome features and his serious—perhaps phlegmatic—expression he seemed admirably fitted to play the part of a monarch.”Arthur Hassall.Louis XIV.
Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Nanteuil. Anne of Austria, Queen of FranceEngraved in 1666 from Nanteuil’s own design from lifeAnne of Austria was the daughter of Philip III of Spain, wife of Louis XIII of France and mother of Louis XIV. She was Regent from 1643 to 1661.Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Nanteuil. Anne of Austria, Queen of France
Engraved in 1666 from Nanteuil’s own design from life
Anne of Austria was the daughter of Philip III of Spain, wife of Louis XIII of France and mother of Louis XIV. She was Regent from 1643 to 1661.
Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Nothing more admirable has been done in the realm of engraving than these quiet prints in which there is no affectation, no parade of technical brilliance, and it is a question whether anything more sincere has been accomplished in the history of portraiture. The portraits of Nanteuil take their place with perfect dignity alongside of the subtle crayon portraits of the courtiers of Henry VIII at Windsor Castle, and the exquisite drawings of the courtiers of Francis I and Henry II, which alone would make Chantilly worthy of a pilgrimage. Nanteuil’s drawing is perfect and his massing of tones masterly; his expression of texture has both realism and breadth, and his indication of skin by means of a system of very close and delicate short strokes is an admirable solution of a problem which had been the despair of the entire school.
The most superficial study of his modeling of that side of the face which is in full light, for instance, will reveal the supreme delicacy, the never-failing tact, with which he carries out this most difficult part of the work. His burin is as light as a feather, there is not a line too many, and he knows the exact value of each and every tone. It is interesting to note that, according to one of his pupils, he had made a careful study of the chiaroscuro of Leonardo, a master for whom he had an especial admiration.
The great simplicity of his composition allowed him to concentrate all the resources of his art on the expression of character in the head. With an understandingof character which was the most sympathetic of his day, he strove to represent his model with all the outward calm of nature which was possible in an age when form reigned supreme and every one wasen parade. To secure this touch of life Nanteuil, at the last sitting, would do everything in his power to bring out in his sitter’s face that look of amused attention which is so characteristic of his portraits, with the result that, as a brilliant critic has recently remarked, “instead of one vivid impression his portrait is the sum of many impressions, a balanced conclusion rather than a single piece of evidence.” It is this which makes his work so interesting as a historical document. Here we see in the truest light the divine monarch, the arrogant noble, the worldly prelate, the serious man-of-letters, and the humble commoner who fill all the French memoirs of the seventeenth century.
It is indeed high time that the artist who has been called “the Louis XIV of engraving” came into his own again, or that he at least be accorded some of the immense popularity which he enjoyed during the palmy days of thegrand siècle. For two centuries he has lain in an obscurity which it is not easy to understand, in spite of the fact that his style of portraiture went out of fashion long before the great monarch died. It remained extremely unpopular throughout the eighteenth century, for what could those austere bust portraits against a plain dark background, in the simplest of settings, have in common with the decorative compositions of the days of Louis XV, in which velvet and embroideries, ermine and rich lace, inlaid armor, canopies and complicated furniture,played such an important part? In comparison with these decorative panels they seem cold and uninteresting, but on the other hand they alone represent real portraiture; they reflect the earnestness of Port-Royal.
Nanteuil. Jules, Cardinal MazarinEngraved in 1656 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeThis is one of the most interesting of the many portraits of the greatminister engraved by Nanteuil.Size of the original engraving, 13½ × 10½ inches
Nanteuil. Jules, Cardinal Mazarin
Engraved in 1656 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
This is one of the most interesting of the many portraits of the greatminister engraved by Nanteuil.
Size of the original engraving, 13½ × 10½ inches
Nanteuil. Bernard de Foix de la Valette, Duc d’EpernonEngraved in 1650 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life“This man was the son of the Duc d’Epernon, who was seated in the carriage with Henry IV at the time when the king was assassinated. The Duc was suspected of complicity in the plot, but this never was proved. Both the elder and the younger Espernon were extremely haughty and arrogant men. Their possessions in Guienne were of an almost royal character and they governed them practically independent of the royal authority. Both were associated with the reactionary party.”J. B. Perkins,France under Richelieu and Mazarin.Size of the original engraving, 12⅝ × 10 inches
Nanteuil. Bernard de Foix de la Valette, Duc d’Epernon
Engraved in 1650 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
“This man was the son of the Duc d’Epernon, who was seated in the carriage with Henry IV at the time when the king was assassinated. The Duc was suspected of complicity in the plot, but this never was proved. Both the elder and the younger Espernon were extremely haughty and arrogant men. Their possessions in Guienne were of an almost royal character and they governed them practically independent of the royal authority. Both were associated with the reactionary party.”J. B. Perkins,France under Richelieu and Mazarin.
Size of the original engraving, 12⅝ × 10 inches
There cannot have been a time when they were not admired by those who possessed true artistic perception, but there is no indication that any special value was attached to them or that they were collected. Suffice it to say that at the Mariette sale, in 1775, the complete works of Nanteuil, two hundred and eighty proofs of two hundred and sixteen plates in choice impressions, realized only a trifle over one hundred dollars. More than five times that sum has recently been paid for one single print. In 1825, at a famous auction, record prices of twelve dollars and nine dollars were paid respectively for the portraits ofPompone de BellièvreandRichelieu. Half a century later their value was not much greater, and general interest in them remained dormant until four years ago when the collecting world suddenly realized their artistic worth, and made a raid on the leading markets of Europe.
It is said that Nanteuil kept a journal; if so, we must greatly deplore the fact that it has not been preserved to us, for we would have been treated to a delightful account of the habits of painters in that time and to many anecdotes connected with their sittings. Who shall ever know the number of Nanteuil’s sitters? His studio was found full of pastel portraits many of which had never been engraved, and his pencil and pen sketches seem to have been innumerable. In spite of his reputation ofbon vivantand his popularitywith both thebourgeoisieand the nobility, allusions to Nanteuil in the memoirs of the day are fragmentary and we know little about the man. We are told, however, that he was born in Rheims about 1630 and that he drew so persistently during his school years that his studies were sadly neglected. It was only through the excellence of the frontispiece which he engraved for his thesis that he succeeded in securing his degree. The conscientious engraver Regnesson taught him all he knew, gave him his sister in marriage, and sent him to Paris, not to complete his apprenticeship, for Nanteuil was already more famous than his master, but in order to place him under the influence of the court painters.
In the great city his wit and conviviality won him many friends and his talent for securing an excellent likeness secured him instant fame. It is said that he received his first order by following some divinity students to a wine-shop where they were wont to take their meals. There, having chosen one of the portraits he had brought from Rheims, he pretended to look for a sitter whose name and address he had forgotten. It is superfluous to add that the picture was not recognized, but it was passed from hand to hand, the price was asked, the artist was modest in his demands, and before the end of the repast his career had begun. He made so many portraits in a week that he was advised by a famous connoisseur to limit his production to four. At night he copied them in pen-and-ink for the sake of familiarizing himself with that burin work which later was to astonish Europe.
During many months he catered to the growing demand for the portrait, with drawings in the style ofthose of the Clouets and the Dumonstiers. One has but to realize in what favor all portrait-makers were in those days in order to understand how this peculiarly gifted artist sprang into such sudden popularity. The dignity of French portrait-painting was being upheld by the noble Philippe de Champaigne, under whose influence the painters of the time produced a great number of portraits which, if not technically brilliant, were presented with that serious dignity which was characteristic of the early seventeenth century and were drawn with admirable sincerity and correctness. To him Nanteuil went for advice and encouragement, and soon after presented the engraved copy of the painter’s latest portrait; it met with so much success that it can be said to have started the tremendous vogue of the engraved portrait and the formation of the great school which Colbert installed at the Gobelins.
Meanwhile the artist, already a perfect draughtsman and very proficient with pastels, had carefully studied the technique of all the leading engravers, and as soon as he had evolved a system of his own bent all his efforts on revolutionizing the art. Nanteuil made a picturesque début during that incredible opera-bouffe, the War of the Fronde. He was draughted into military service, but although frequently active with a blunderbuss and wearing a false beard in imitation of the dreaded Swiss mercenaries, he succeeded in making a portrait of all the heroes of the day. For him satCondéand theDuc d’Epernon, the last representative of feudalism in France; theDucs de Bouillon,de Mercœur,de Nemours, andde Beaufort, who met in taverns to appoint the generalsof an army which did not exist; the Archbishop of Paris,de Retz, who appeared in Parliament armed like a pirate; that fat poet and peasantLoret, who sold on street corners his “Muse Historique,” a daily satire on the intriguing nobles “who were not afraid of bullets but who were in deadly fear of winter mud,” and lastly the indomitable prime minister,Cardinal Mazarin, whom the populace twice drove from Paris and then so madly welcomed back that many were trampled to death in the riot. Of that wily Italian he engraved as many as fourteen portraits.
During the few years which followed the civil war he made his most interesting portraits.
It was then that he assiduously frequented the literary salons of the capital where, a poetaster of some renown, he was ever welcome and made that beautiful pastel portrait ofMadame de Sévignéwhich has been preserved to us, and another ofMlle. de Scudéry, who thanked him as follows:
Nanteuil en faisant mon imageA de son art divin signalé le pouvoir,Je hais mes traits dans mon miroir,Je les aime dans son ouvrage.
Nanteuil en faisant mon imageA de son art divin signalé le pouvoir,Je hais mes traits dans mon miroir,Je les aime dans son ouvrage.
Nanteuil en faisant mon imageA de son art divin signalé le pouvoir,Je hais mes traits dans mon miroir,Je les aime dans son ouvrage.
Nanteuil en faisant mon image
A de son art divin signalé le pouvoir,
Je hais mes traits dans mon miroir,
Je les aime dans son ouvrage.
At this time he engraved the set of small-size portraits which represents the high-water mark of his talent. Can one possibly imagine anything more exquisitely choice than his heads ofMaridatthe philosopher andHugues de Lionnethe secretary for foreign affairs? With equal excellence he made the portraits ofChapelain, one of the founders of the French Academy, who reported himself to the King as a greater poet than Corneille,Scudéry, who signed the popular novels written by his sister, the wittyMarquis de St. Brisson, the poetsLoretandSarrazin, the genialAbbé de Marolles, savant and print-collector, the learned octogenarianLe Vayer, and the ex-preceptor of the King, the archbishop of Paris,Péréfixe de Beaumont.
Nanteuil. Jean LoretEngraved in 1668 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeLoret is chiefly remembered for hisGazette, written invers libres, which he began to issue in 1650, and continued until his death in 1666.Size of the original engraving, 10⅛ × 7⅛ inches
Nanteuil. Jean Loret
Engraved in 1668 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
Loret is chiefly remembered for hisGazette, written invers libres, which he began to issue in 1650, and continued until his death in 1666.
Size of the original engraving, 10⅛ × 7⅛ inches
Nanteuil.François de la Mothe le VayerEngraved in 1661 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeFew were Le Vayer’s equal either in wit or learning. His writings were exceedingly numerous. Regarded as the Plutarch of his century for his boundless erudition and his mode of reasoning. He died at the age of eighty-six, in 1672, having enjoyed good health to the last days of his life.Size of the original engraving, 10¾ × 7½ inches
Nanteuil.François de la Mothe le Vayer
Engraved in 1661 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
Few were Le Vayer’s equal either in wit or learning. His writings were exceedingly numerous. Regarded as the Plutarch of his century for his boundless erudition and his mode of reasoning. He died at the age of eighty-six, in 1672, having enjoyed good health to the last days of his life.
Size of the original engraving, 10¾ × 7½ inches
These portraits owe their size to the fact that they had been used as frontispieces for the works of those various personages, but the special care, thecon amorefinish with which they are executed, is due to the fact that the subjects were warm personal friends of the artist. The portrait ofJohn Evelynwas made in the same way, although before the artist’s technique had reached its fullest development.
Before the year 1660 Nanteuil made, besides many portraits including those mentioned above and several of Mazarin, four very remarkable ones of a larger size. They are those ofCardinal de Coislin, the youngDuc de Bouillon,Marie de Bragelogne, and the abbéBasile Fouquet. The prelate was a Jesuit who became chaplain of Versailles; the youth, as lord chamberlain of France, had the honor of handing the King his nightshirt, an honor which he forfeited forever when on two successive nights he forgot his gloves. The woman was an old love of Richelieu; the delicate modeling of her careworn face is worthy of Holbein’s best manner and is executed with a tact that baffles description. This plate reminds us of the fact that out of two hundred and sixteen portraits Nanteuil made only eight of women; of these only two were made from life,—that ofAnne of Austriaand the one mentioned above, but they are gems of purest ray serene which make us sigh whenwe think of what he could have done with Henrietta of England and Mesdames de Lavallière, de Montespan, and de Maintenon! As to the fourth portrait, it is that of the brother of the greatSurintendant des Finances, Nicolas Fouquet; he was at that time the head spy of Mazarin as well as the chancellor of the orders of the King and the most accomplished rascal who ever fished in troubled waters.
These four engraved portraits are masterpieces of characterization, and exhibit in the most eloquent way the master’s powerful draughtsmanship, his utter lack of mannerisms, and the sympathetic way in which he varied his entire technical treatment to suit different subjects. Here is abundant proof that he was primarily a portrait-maker, that, in spite of the fact that he handled the burin with as much ease and sureness as his pencil and chalks, he never strove after effect and never allowed his skill to carry him away and mar the unity of his perfectly balanced composition. He is a psychologist who consistently strove to brand his model’s soul on his countenance. Of no otherpeintre-graveurcan we say as much.
With the year 1660 came the royal marriage, and a twelvemonth later the death of the despotic Mazarin and the emancipation of the young King. Nanteuil’s fame by this time was thoroughly established, he was everywhere recognized as a past-master of his art and was in a position to refuse as many orders as he pleased. The leading men in the church, the parliament, and thebourgeoisie, which always followed the lead of the nobility, did not rest until they had the artist from Rheims engrave their portraits and strike off many hundred impressions, which werequickly enough distributed among their families and friends. Among them were the Maître d’Hôtel and the physician of the King,Guenault, the quack who looked after the health of the Queen, andDreux d’Aubray, who became the first victim of his daughter, the famous murderess, the Marquise de Brinvilliers. The two great protectors of Nanteuil at this time wereMichel Le TellierandNicolas Fouquet. Of the former, who was then war minister and who as chancellor of France died the day after signing the fatal Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, we have ten convincing portraits, as well as five of his sonCharles Mauricewho became the worldliest of archbishops, and one of his eldest son who became the dreaded war ministerLouvois. These sixteen portraits of the Le Tellier family represent some of Nanteuil’s best work. The portrait ofFouquetis a great historical document, a piece of most subtle characterization done in the artist’s best manner, and it is interesting to note that it was made only a very short time before the sensational fall of that then most powerful man in the kingdom. Could we but know what thoughts ran through the head of the Lord of Vaux as he sat for his portrait with a quizzical smile! Nanteuil, by the way, has left us the record of the appearance of practically all the principal figures of that sensational trial which lasted three years and the outcome of which alone assured the complete independence of the King.
Nanteuil had now patrons influential enough to insure him a gracious welcome at court. His greatest ambition had been to paint the young King and he felt able to improve greatly on the efforts of bothMignard and Lebrun. With this end in view he addressed to the King a petition for a sitting in such eloquent verse that the request was readily granted. The first pastel portrait of the King seems to have made a small sensation at court; “Come and look at your husband in this portrait, madame,” said Anne of Austria to the young Queen; “he fairly speaks.” Still greater, however, was the King’s delight when he saw the engraved copy of the portrait which Nanteuil later presented to him. He rewarded with a gift of 4000 livres the artist whom he had already named court painter and engraver with a lodging at the Gobelins, and at whose bidding he had raised the status of engraving to a fine art.
There are in all eleven of these portraits of Louis XIV and they give us an excellent idea of the haughty appearance, the conceited expression of the demigod during the happiest period of his life. What care we for the old monarch who later was caricatured by the pomp of Rigaud’s painting and the satire of Thackeray? This is the young Alexander who has just seized the reins of government and set up the most brilliant court in history. In the earliest one he is twenty-six years old, madly in love with Mlle. de La Vallière, and building Versailles with feverish haste; at the last sitting he is thirty-eight and hopelessly under the sway of Madame de Montespan. Here he bears our gaze with a contemptuous air, the man who, “if he was not the greatest of kings, was the greatest actor of majesty who ever filled a throne.” These portraits were considered extraordinary in point of resemblance. The great Bernini himself, who had come from Italy to make a bust of the King,warmly congratulated the engraver on “the best portrait ever made of his Majesty,” and this before the leading personages of the court.
Nanteuil. Nicolas FouquetEngraved in 1661 from Nanteuil’s own design from life“Of the three ministers to whom Louis had openly given his confidence, Lionne, Le Tellier, and Fouquet, the last named was the only one who possessed the qualities necessary for a prime minister.“‘It was generally believed,’ says Madame de La Fayette, ‘that the Superintendent would be called upon to take the Government into his hands.’ There is no doubt whatever that Fouquet himself expected eventually to succeed Mazarin.”Arthur Hassall,Louis XIV.Size of the original engraving, 13 × 10 inches
Nanteuil. Nicolas Fouquet
Engraved in 1661 from Nanteuil’s own design from life
“Of the three ministers to whom Louis had openly given his confidence, Lionne, Le Tellier, and Fouquet, the last named was the only one who possessed the qualities necessary for a prime minister.
“‘It was generally believed,’ says Madame de La Fayette, ‘that the Superintendent would be called upon to take the Government into his hands.’ There is no doubt whatever that Fouquet himself expected eventually to succeed Mazarin.”Arthur Hassall,Louis XIV.
Size of the original engraving, 13 × 10 inches
Nanteuil. Basile FouquetEngraved in 1658 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeBasile Fouquet, Abbé de Barbeaux and Rigny, Chancelier des Ordres du Roi, was the brother of Nicolas Fouquet, the famous Superintendent of Finance.Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 9¾ inches
Nanteuil. Basile Fouquet
Engraved in 1658 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
Basile Fouquet, Abbé de Barbeaux and Rigny, Chancelier des Ordres du Roi, was the brother of Nicolas Fouquet, the famous Superintendent of Finance.
Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 9¾ inches
An unusual feature of these royal portraits is that seven of them are life-size, a feat which had not been previously attempted.
It had become the fashion to hang these portraits in rich frames at the top of the high wainscots used in those days, and the very large size adopted by Nanteuil made of them decorative panels which held their own even in a roomful of paintings. Many of the nobles must have owned complete sets. They met with such favor that during the last four years of his life the artist engraved entirely in that size, about twenty-two inches by thirty, and had started a gallery of all the great men of France; he had actually produced as many as thirty-six before he died in 1678. The list includes the portraits of the Queen MotherAnne of Austria, decked out in all her finery a few weeks before she died, that of the youngDauphin, the effeminate brother of the King theDuc d’Orléans,Colbert,Turenne,Louvois,Bossuet, theDuc de Chaulnes, and several other celebrities. They are admirable plates in which he secured broad masses and simple effects by means of the same system he used in his small portraits. In spite of the very large surface and what seems like a million lines there is no confusion, not a flaw in the unity of his composition. They had formed the special admiration of the last Medici Duke of Tuscany when, on a visit to France, he had insisted on meeting Nanteuil. From him he purchased for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence the portrait of the painter himself and those of the King and Turenne. He moreoverobliged him to accept a pupildans l’intimité, a thing which Nanteuil had never done for he always locked himself up when he engraved his plates. It was that Domenico Tempesti who has left us such an interesting record of the habits of the engraver and the ideas he held on the subject of portraiture. It is from him that we know that the master made all those delightful pastel portraits in three sittings of exactly two hours each. Would that we knew how long it took him to engrave them! we can only form a vague idea of this from the fact that in his most prolific year he made fifteen engraved portraits. Robert-Dumesnil limits to ten the portraits engraved entirely by Nanteuil; the selection he makes is judicious, but the number was certainly far greater. Of course the purely mechanical draughting of the frame and the filling of the background was the work of assistants, and it is more than probable that in many of the less important plates and in the life-size portraits, on account of the great surface to be covered, the costume was engraved by such pupils as Pitau and Van Schuppen, for instance, as their cleverness for such work almost equaled their master’s. But in all the small portraits and those ofTurenneand theDucs de Bouillon, for instance, we recognize everywhere the vigorous yet tactful touch of Nanteuil himself.
Nanteuil. Jean ChapelainEngraved in 1655 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeJean Chapelain, born at Paris, December 4, 1595, died February 22, 1674. His mediocre poem “La Pucelle” brought him much more renown than the “Iliad” brought to Homer. It was Chapelain who corrected the first poems of Racine.Size of the original engraving, 10⅝ × 7½ inches
Nanteuil. Jean Chapelain
Engraved in 1655 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
Jean Chapelain, born at Paris, December 4, 1595, died February 22, 1674. His mediocre poem “La Pucelle” brought him much more renown than the “Iliad” brought to Homer. It was Chapelain who corrected the first poems of Racine.
Size of the original engraving, 10⅝ × 7½ inches
Nanteuil. Pompone de BellièvreEngraved in 1657 (when Nanteuil was twenty-seven years of age) after the painting by Charles Lebrun. By many authorities it has been described as the most beautiful of all engraved portraits.Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 9¾ inches
Nanteuil. Pompone de Bellièvre
Engraved in 1657 (when Nanteuil was twenty-seven years of age) after the painting by Charles Lebrun. By many authorities it has been described as the most beautiful of all engraved portraits.
Size of the original engraving, 12¾ × 9¾ inches
Reproductive work was for Nanteuil an exception. The plates which he engraved from the paintings of other artists number thirty-eight; to each of them he affixed the name of the painter with a fairness which Edelinck, for one, seldom exhibited. It is natural that these plates should show little of that inspiration and originality which were distinctive of a born characterstudent like the artist from Rheims, but the majority are supremely interesting and the finest are masterpieces. It is evident that in the earliest ones, notably in the head ofChavigny, reputed a son of Richelieu, he was experimenting with technique and that several others which were used as frontispieces were merely potboilers. Even the portrait of QueenChristina of Swedenand the much overrated one of the Dutch lawyervan Steenberghenare nothing more than interesting studies of simple linework and softness of tone. In those of the two little sons of the Duchesse de Longueville, theComte de Dunoisand theComte de Saint Paul, we see how easy it was for Nanteuil’s technique to express the soft outline and the tender complexion of youth with a charming effect.
After Lebrun he engraved with an admirable chiaroscuro the head of the ChancellorSeguier, and that well-known portrait ofPompone de Bellièvre, statesman and philanthropist, which, if lacking in vigor, represents the highest point reached by the intelligent refinement of linework. But it is only with the sober and precise work of his master Philippe de Champaigne that Nanteuil had a positive affinity. The two artists held identical views about portraiture and the Flemish painter found in the engraver from Rheims an interpreter who fairly breathed in unison with him. It is not possible to imagine anything more admirable than the engraved portraits ofde Neufville, bishop of Chartres,Richelieu, and MarshalTurenne. They undoubtedly represent the last word on the subject of line-engraving. The face of the Cardinal is treated with all the subtlety of Velasquez and the head of the greatest captain of his time is modeledwith a strength of coloring which Rembrandt himself would have admired. This plate shows in the clearest way Nanteuil’s ability to represent different textures: the hair, skin, lace, silk, and steel armor are treated with precision which is wholly satisfying and a breadth which commands the highest admiration.
From the inventory made in his house the day after his death we learn that Nanteuil had for years been dissipating in extravagant living the large sums he had earned with his work. His household goods, his drawings, and the tools of his profession were sold under the hammer, and it is amusing at the present day to realize that a lot consisting of 2966 of his prints, together with many reams of paper and his printing-press, were valued at only seven hundred dollars.
It is also explained why most of his portraits went through so many different states; it was chiefly on account of the “theses.” A curious fashion it was by which wealthy students in law, philosophy, and the arts formally dedicated their graduating theses to one or another distinguished personage whose engraved portrait they ordered from apeintre-graveur. This, with a lengthy dedication, was then attached to the printed thesis as a frontispiece and sent to the patron and to many of his friends. It is thus that the Chancellor d’Aligre commissioned Nanteuil, who had the monopoly of such work, to engrave and strike off twenty-five hundred proofs of a new and extra-large portrait of the King measuring thirty inches by forty-two for his son’s thesis; for this and the printing of the thesis itself the engraver received the sum of 10,400 livres, or about $9000 of our money. The priceof an ordinary engraved portrait was $2000. Other less wealthy postulants had to be content with ordering a reimpression of a plate which had already been used and which needed only a change of dedication. In this way the portrait of the Dauphin for instance went through fifteen states and one of the King went through eleven; the plates were naturally often retouched by the artist in order to enable them to withstand so much use. Not to these theses alone, however, must the great number of royal portraits which were printed be attributed, for they had become immensely popular throughout the kingdom and whoever could afford it had one hanging in his house. In 1667 Cardinal de Bouillon ordered the portrait of the King for his thesis, and some years later another student selected for his patron the Cardinal himself. In 1675 it was the son of d’Artagnan, dear to all lovers of romance, who was presented by his father with the finest of the King’s portraits for his thesis.
Nanteuil.Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,Maréchal de FranceEngraved from the painting by Philippe de Champaigne“It is not possible to imagine anything more admirable than the engraved portraits ofde Neufville, bishop of Chartres,Richelieu, and MarshalTurenne. They undoubtedly represent the last word on the subject of line-engraving.... The head of the greatest captain of his time is modeled with a strength of coloring which Rembrandt himself would have admired.”Louis R. Metcalfe.Size of the original engraving, 15⅛ × 11⅜ inches
Nanteuil.Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne,Maréchal de France
Engraved from the painting by Philippe de Champaigne
“It is not possible to imagine anything more admirable than the engraved portraits ofde Neufville, bishop of Chartres,Richelieu, and MarshalTurenne. They undoubtedly represent the last word on the subject of line-engraving.... The head of the greatest captain of his time is modeled with a strength of coloring which Rembrandt himself would have admired.”Louis R. Metcalfe.
Size of the original engraving, 15⅛ × 11⅜ inches
Nanteuil. Jean-Baptiste ColbertEngraved in 1668 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from lifeTo Colbert Louis XIV was indebted for much, if not all, of the success of his enterprises during the twenty-five years succeeding the death of Cardinal Mazarin.Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Nanteuil. Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Engraved in 1668 from Nanteuil’s own drawing from life
To Colbert Louis XIV was indebted for much, if not all, of the success of his enterprises during the twenty-five years succeeding the death of Cardinal Mazarin.
Size of the original engraving, 19¾ × 16¾ inches
Of course this custom does not account for all the changes of state. When an archbishop became a cardinal for instance, the engraver made the necessary modification in the costume on the copper and provided his patron with a new set of impressions; similarly for a change in a title. In the case of Fouquet, the second of five states of his portrait was made necessary by a mistake in spelling in the dedication, the others being undoubtedly due to the touching-up of the plate on account of the great number of impressions ordered by a powerful man the circle of whose friends constituted the real court of that time. In the case of Cardinal Mazarin, politics undoubtedlyplayed a great part in the use which was made of his portraits.
It is not generally known that Nanteuil was himself the author of most of the titles and dedications both in prose and in verse, in Latin as well as in French, which form such an attractive feature of his prints. This was to be expected of the clever versifier who had written such amusing sonnets to the royal family and the leaders of the court in connection with their sittings, and of the cheerful companion who had known so intimately thebeaux-espritswhom the hospitality of Fouquet had so often convened at his château of Vaux. To the Queen, who had a complexion of marvelous whiteness, he wrote a poem thanking her for the order for her portrait, which ended with this line: “Mais prenons courage, on a peint le soleil même avec un charbon!”
Nanteuil’s original drawings in pencil, crayons, and pastels are fewer by far than those of the Clouets or the pastellists of the eighteenth century which have been preserved to us; probably not more than twenty are now to be found in public collections. To my knowledge the Louvre has two, the Museum of Rheims four, the Chartres Museum one, Florence three, Chantilly four, and Stafford House, London, six. They are supremely interesting for that simplicity and sincerity, that living truth, which make one feel as if he recognized old acquaintances. As for his engravings, there are splendid collections of them in Paris, Dresden, and Chantilly, and there doesn’t exist a private collection of any importance in the world which does not contain some of the noble work of the past-master of engraved portraiture, the painter of the most brilliantperiod in modern history, the genial artist who had said to his pupil: “Le temps et la peine ne font pas tant les beaux ouvrages que la bonne humeur et l’intelligence.”