Lot Essay
Loir was proposed for membership of the Acadmie Royale in 1655, gaining membership on the recommendation of King Louis XIV and Charles LeBrun in 1663. He later participated in the decoration of the Palais des Tuilleries and the grand appartement de la Reine at Versailles, executing a series of paintings for the appartements of Marie-Thrse, three of which are now in the Museums of Cherbourg and Bourg-en-Bresse.
According to A.N. Dzallier d'Argenville (Abrg..., 1762, IV, pp. 162 and 164) two qualities distinguish Loir's work; his 'prference pour le coloris' and his 'grand talent... de peindre les femmes et les enfants'. A pupil of Sebastian Bourdon and of Simon Vouet, Loir also came into contact with Nicolas Poussin during his trip to Italy between 1647-9. It is his influence that is prevalent in the present composition, where the grouping of the Holy Family and the use of architecture as their stage recall Poussin's painting of 1648 in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (Samuel H. Kress collection). The present composition may be compared with Loir's Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass., Inv. no. 214.
According to A.N. Dzallier d'Argenville (Abrg..., 1762, IV, pp. 162 and 164) two qualities distinguish Loir's work; his 'prference pour le coloris' and his 'grand talent... de peindre les femmes et les enfants'. A pupil of Sebastian Bourdon and of Simon Vouet, Loir also came into contact with Nicolas Poussin during his trip to Italy between 1647-9. It is his influence that is prevalent in the present composition, where the grouping of the Holy Family and the use of architecture as their stage recall Poussin's painting of 1648 in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (Samuel H. Kress collection). The present composition may be compared with Loir's Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass., Inv. no. 214.