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Lot Essay
This painting is a copy of a design executed by Charles Le Brun for Louis XIV. It forms part of the series of twelve panels depicting the History of Alexander that was designed between 1661 and 1663, and woven at Gobelins, where Le Brun was head of the Manufacture Royale des Meubles de la Couronne. This series was one of the first to be executed at Gobelins after its foundation in 1661 and was delivered to the Royal Garde-Meubles in circa 1668. Gobelins executed eight versions of the set, which was further extensively copied at Aubusson and in Brussels.
The son of the master-sculptor Nicolas Le Brun, Charles Le Brun dominated French painting as no other artist until Jacques-Louis David, over a century later. Under the protection of a succession of important political figures, including Chancellor Pierre Sguier, Cardinal Richelieu and Nicolas Fouquet, Le Brun created a series of masterpieces of history and religious painting. For King Louis XIV and his chief minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, he executed his greatest work, the decoration of Versailles.
The son of the master-sculptor Nicolas Le Brun, Charles Le Brun dominated French painting as no other artist until Jacques-Louis David, over a century later. Under the protection of a succession of important political figures, including Chancellor Pierre Sguier, Cardinal Richelieu and Nicolas Fouquet, Le Brun created a series of masterpieces of history and religious painting. For King Louis XIV and his chief minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, he executed his greatest work, the decoration of Versailles.