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Lot Essay
This newly discovered Portrait of the Painter’s Family is a compelling addition to the oeuvre of François de Troy. Around 1710, the artist developed a pictorial formula for the group portrait genre as seen in his Portrait of the Franqueville Family (Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, inv. no. 1982.21) and that of his own family (Musée du domaine départemental de Sceaux, Sceaux, inv. no. 2020.1.1; see J. Cailleux, ‘Some Family and Group Portraits by François de Troy (1645-1730).’ The Burlington Magazine, CXIII, 1971, pp. i-xviii).
In the present family portrait, de Troy quotes several of his own paintings. His self-portrait, the man at center left holding a palette, derives from a model that exists in several versions, both with and without a bonnet (Musée de Châlons-en-Champagne, inv. no. 861.1. 155; Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston, inv. no. BF.1991.1), while the portrait of Jeanne de Troy, the artists wife seen at center right, is taken from his painting in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. no. ГЭ-1209).
The other portraits are of the couple’s children. The monk in the background, dom de Troy, is embraced by his brother, the renowned painter, Jean-François de Troy—this motif is quoted from François de Troy’s family portrait in Sceaux. The young women are five of the six daughters of François de Troy and Jeanne Cotelle whom he painted on numerous occasions (see D. Brême, François de Troy 1645-1730, Paris-Toulouse, 1997, pp. 24-25). The nuns seen at the right of the composition, meanwhile, are the two daughters who became nuns at the Cistercian women's monastery of Pont-aux-Dames in the commune of Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames.
In the present family portrait, de Troy quotes several of his own paintings. His self-portrait, the man at center left holding a palette, derives from a model that exists in several versions, both with and without a bonnet (Musée de Châlons-en-Champagne, inv. no. 861.1. 155; Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston, inv. no. BF.1991.1), while the portrait of Jeanne de Troy, the artists wife seen at center right, is taken from his painting in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. no. ГЭ-1209).
The other portraits are of the couple’s children. The monk in the background, dom de Troy, is embraced by his brother, the renowned painter, Jean-François de Troy—this motif is quoted from François de Troy’s family portrait in Sceaux. The young women are five of the six daughters of François de Troy and Jeanne Cotelle whom he painted on numerous occasions (see D. Brême, François de Troy 1645-1730, Paris-Toulouse, 1997, pp. 24-25). The nuns seen at the right of the composition, meanwhile, are the two daughters who became nuns at the Cistercian women's monastery of Pont-aux-Dames in the commune of Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames.