Friday, November 4, 2022

Miniature Portraits and Studies at the Louvre (17th Century)

Jean Petitot
Portrait of the Duchesse de Lavallière
ca. 1670
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Jean Petitot
Portrait of Madame de Maintenon
ca. 1680
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Jean Petitot
Portrait of Madame de Sévigné
ca. 1675
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Jean Petitot
Portrait of the Comtesse de Grignan
(daughter of Madame de Sévigné)
ca. 1675
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

workshop of Jean Petitot
Portrait of a Lady
ca. 1660-70
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Jean Petitot
Portrait of a Lady
ca. 1680
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Jean Petitot  after Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Lady Mary Villiers
ca. 1640
enamel miniature on gold
Musée du Louvre

"Enamel miniatures are more costly than watercolor miniatures, due to their complex and risky creation process.  An artist begins by applying the color with the highest firing temperature and then applies and fires subsequent layers.  The intense firing process in a kiln ensures that the colors do not fade.  Risks from firing include cracks and kiln dust, which appears as small black specks."

– from curator's notes at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Jean Petitot
Portrait of Christina, Queen of Sweden
ca. 1655
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Sébastien Bourdon
Portrait of Christina, Queen of Sweden
ca. 1654
drawing
(study for frontispiece)
Musée du Louvre

Simon Vouet
Study of Helmeted Woman
before 1649
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne
Self Portrait
ca. 1658
drawing (colored chalks)
Musée du Louvre

Daniel Dumonstier
François de Montmorency, comte de Bouteville
ca. 1625
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Charles Boit
Portrait of a Marshall of France
ca. 1690
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Artist
Louis XIV in Tournament Costume
17th century
watercolor and gouache on paper
Musée du Louvre

Anonymous French Artist
Family of Hugues de Lionne with his Portrait
ca. 1640
enamel miniature
Musée du Louvre

Nicolas Robert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert within Garland
before 1685
watercolor on vellum
Musée du Louvre