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Lot Essay
Jean Cailleux has done much to restore the reputation of Franois de Troy, whose considerable achievements were until recently all but forgotten. The present work was given to Robert Levrac-Tournires when it was sold in 1922 and Cailleux has convincingly argued for its attribution to de Troy on the basis of a number of similarities which it bears to signed works by the artist (op. cit., passim).
Several points of fashion suggest that the painting dates from relatively late in De Troy's career: the hairstyles of all but the father and the style of the mother's dress with its open front and series of bows are characteristic of the mid-1720s, and the designs of the silver-mounted porcelaine de Chine coffee cups and sugar basin have been dated by Jacques Helft to 1722-7 (op. cit., p. vi).
Cailleux also draws attention to the sculptures on either side of the chimney piece, which can be read as allegories of Charity and Justice, and to the bas-relief above it, which might allude to the Fall of the Rebel Angels, both of which suggest that this group portrait might depict a Magistrate and his family.
Several points of fashion suggest that the painting dates from relatively late in De Troy's career: the hairstyles of all but the father and the style of the mother's dress with its open front and series of bows are characteristic of the mid-1720s, and the designs of the silver-mounted porcelaine de Chine coffee cups and sugar basin have been dated by Jacques Helft to 1722-7 (op. cit., p. vi).
Cailleux also draws attention to the sculptures on either side of the chimney piece, which can be read as allegories of Charity and Justice, and to the bas-relief above it, which might allude to the Fall of the Rebel Angels, both of which suggest that this group portrait might depict a Magistrate and his family.