Lot Essay
Sold in 1919 as 'Portrait of an Abbot numismatist' because of the medals cabinet visible behind the sitter, the portrait --which was scrupulously identified in 1931-- depicts the Abb de Rothelin, verifiable by comparison with a 1746 engraving of the painting (or a reduced replica of it), which served as the frontispiece to the Catalogue des livres de feu M. l'abb d'Orlans de Rothelin, published in that year by Gabriel Martin.
Born in Paris in 1691, Charles d'Orlans, Abb de Rothelin, was a brilliant seminarian whose excellence at his studies earned him the title of Doctor of Theology and the lasting admiration of the powerful Cardinal de Polignac. An eminent numismatist and bibliophile, Rothelin was elected to the Acadmie Franaise in 1728 and the Acadmie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres four years later. A close friend of Coypel-- who in addition to being a painter was also a distinguished playwright -- the Abb was the dedicate of Coypel's 1740 comedy in three acts, Les Judgments temeraires. Likewise, several of Coypel's paintings are recorded in the inventory of the Abb's estate following his death in 1744, though, curiously, not the present portrait, which the artist retained until his own death, perhaps as a memento of their friendship.
Coypel seems to have maintained friendships with a number of members of the clergy, and to have executed several other portraits of priests (see Lefranois, op. cit., nos. P.42, 126, 127, 242, 375). A drawing of the artist himself, dressed as an abbot, is in a private collection in New York (sold, Sotheby's, New York, Jan. 9, 1996, lot 38); it appears to have been with humorous intent that he chose to portray himself in this guise.
Born in Paris in 1691, Charles d'Orlans, Abb de Rothelin, was a brilliant seminarian whose excellence at his studies earned him the title of Doctor of Theology and the lasting admiration of the powerful Cardinal de Polignac. An eminent numismatist and bibliophile, Rothelin was elected to the Acadmie Franaise in 1728 and the Acadmie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres four years later. A close friend of Coypel-- who in addition to being a painter was also a distinguished playwright -- the Abb was the dedicate of Coypel's 1740 comedy in three acts, Les Judgments temeraires. Likewise, several of Coypel's paintings are recorded in the inventory of the Abb's estate following his death in 1744, though, curiously, not the present portrait, which the artist retained until his own death, perhaps as a memento of their friendship.
Coypel seems to have maintained friendships with a number of members of the clergy, and to have executed several other portraits of priests (see Lefranois, op. cit., nos. P.42, 126, 127, 242, 375). A drawing of the artist himself, dressed as an abbot, is in a private collection in New York (sold, Sotheby's, New York, Jan. 9, 1996, lot 38); it appears to have been with humorous intent that he chose to portray himself in this guise.