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Lot Essay
The present composition relates to a modello (24½ x 20¼ in.) first offered at the Hôtel Drouot as Portrait of a Cardinal by Hyacinth Rigaud (30 January 1999), and then as Gaspard de Vintimille, évèque de Marseille by Nicolas de Largilierre (1 December 1995).
Mr. Dominique Brême, who attributed the modello to Nicolas de Largilliere and dates it to around 1685-90, does not agree with the traditional identification of the sitter as either Gaspard de Vintimille or the cardinal de Fleury. Mr. Brême was unable to attribute the present work definitively to Largilliere on the basis of a photograph, though he noted its comparable quality and some similarities to the modello. The dimensions of this painting are smaller than those of the modello, suggesting that the present work could either be the primary version of the composition or a copy of the original in a smaller format, painted by the artist himself or produced by his workshop.
We are grateful to Mr. Dominique Brême for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot.
Mr. Dominique Brême, who attributed the modello to Nicolas de Largilliere and dates it to around 1685-90, does not agree with the traditional identification of the sitter as either Gaspard de Vintimille or the cardinal de Fleury. Mr. Brême was unable to attribute the present work definitively to Largilliere on the basis of a photograph, though he noted its comparable quality and some similarities to the modello. The dimensions of this painting are smaller than those of the modello, suggesting that the present work could either be the primary version of the composition or a copy of the original in a smaller format, painted by the artist himself or produced by his workshop.
We are grateful to Mr. Dominique Brême for his assistance in cataloguing the present lot.