Lot Essay
The inscription on the verso of the present pastel identifies the sitter as the Abbé Folard, but this seems to be incorrect: the cross and shah indicate the rank of a prelate, a position unattainable for an ordinary abbé from the chapter of a cathedral. The pose and features of the sitter relate to those of Louis Doni d'Attichy, Bishop of Riez and later Bishop of Autun, as represented in the portrait engraved in reverse by Robert Nanteuil, dated 1663. Interestingly, the family of Doni d'Attichy de Beauchamp came from Provence, which may explain the later confusion about the sitter here described as from Nîmes.
Louis Doni d'Attichy (1596-1664) entered the order of the Minîmes in 1616 in Nigeon near Paris. He was soon promoted to the rank of superior and co-recteur of the House of Burgundy. He was appointed Bishop of Riez on 5 October 1628 by Cardinal de Richelieu and was later sent on diplomatic missions to Savoy. He was then created Bishop of Autun on 19 January 1652. The portrait was drawn by Nanteuil a year before his death.
Similar pastels, preparatory studies for prints, are known in Nanteuil's work, such as the pastel sketch of Monseigneur Philibert-Emmanuel de Beaumanoir de Lavardin, from the Normand collection, sold at Christie's, Monaco, 20 June 1994, lot 46, or more finished studies such as the pastel of Monseigneur Dominique de Liguy, Bishop of Meaux, of similar size to the present pastel and also in reverse to the print, G. Monnier, Inventaire des collections publiques françaises, Pastels XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Cabinet des Dessins, Paris, 1972, no. 10, illustrated.
The print after the present pastel, only known in one state, was probably intended to adorn the frontispiece of a doctoral thesis. Theological propositions were frequently printed below the portrait of the eminent person to whom the thesis was dedicated, on a large sheet of paper posted on the walls of the church before the public defence of the thesis. Later only the engraved portrait would be preserved.
Louis Doni d'Attichy (1596-1664) entered the order of the Minîmes in 1616 in Nigeon near Paris. He was soon promoted to the rank of superior and co-recteur of the House of Burgundy. He was appointed Bishop of Riez on 5 October 1628 by Cardinal de Richelieu and was later sent on diplomatic missions to Savoy. He was then created Bishop of Autun on 19 January 1652. The portrait was drawn by Nanteuil a year before his death.
Similar pastels, preparatory studies for prints, are known in Nanteuil's work, such as the pastel sketch of Monseigneur Philibert-Emmanuel de Beaumanoir de Lavardin, from the Normand collection, sold at Christie's, Monaco, 20 June 1994, lot 46, or more finished studies such as the pastel of Monseigneur Dominique de Liguy, Bishop of Meaux, of similar size to the present pastel and also in reverse to the print, G. Monnier, Inventaire des collections publiques françaises, Pastels XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Cabinet des Dessins, Paris, 1972, no. 10, illustrated.
The print after the present pastel, only known in one state, was probably intended to adorn the frontispiece of a doctoral thesis. Theological propositions were frequently printed below the portrait of the eminent person to whom the thesis was dedicated, on a large sheet of paper posted on the walls of the church before the public defence of the thesis. Later only the engraved portrait would be preserved.