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Baroque and Rococo
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Baroque and Rococo
Art Map |
see collection:
Philippe de Champaigne
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Philippe de Champaigne
born May 26, 1602, Brussels
died Aug. 12, 1674, Paris
portrait, historical, and religious painter of the French Baroque.
Trained in Brussels, Champaigne arrived in Paris in 1621 and was
employed with the classical Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin on the
decoration of the Luxembourg Palace, under the direction of Nicholas
Duchesne. His career progressed rapidly under the patronage of the queen
mother Marie de Medicis and the Cardinal de Richelieu, for whom he
producedreligious paintings and portraits. Appointed painter royal to
the queen mother, Champaigne succeeded Duchesne in that position in
1628. He became a professor at the Royal Academy (1653), later its
rector, and produced many pieces for the palaces and churches of Paris.
Champaigne decorated a gallery in the Palais Royal for Richelieu and
executed a masterful portrait of the powerful French figure (“Cardinal
Richelieu”; c. 1635, Louvre, Paris). His strongest works are the natural
and lifelike psychological portraits he produced of eminent
contemporaries. Blending Flemish, French, and Italian elements, his work
is characterized by a brilliant colour sense, a monumental conception of
the figure, and a sober use of composition. His portrait style shows the
influence of Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck.
In 1643 Champaigne became involved with Jansenism, an ascetic sect, and
he rejected previous Baroque techniques. His paintings became simplified
and more austere, and his portraits, which often portray the sitter
dressed in black, demonstrate his sensitivity toward and understanding
of people. One of the masterpieces of his later period is “Ex Voto de
1662” (1662, Louvre), which depicts the miraculouscure of his daughter,
a nun at the Jansenist convent of Port Royal. In his theory of art
Champaigne emphasized drawing and was possibly the originator of the
drawing-versus-colourcontroversy that embroiled the French Academy until
well into the 18th century.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
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Philippe de Champaigne:
Triple Portrait of
Cardinal Richelieu
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Philippe de Champaigne
Triple Portrait of Richelieu
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 58 x 72 cm
National Gallery, London
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 Philippe de Champaigne
Triple Portrait of Richelieu (detail)
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 58 x 72 cm
National Gallery, London
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Besides portraits of the actual ruler, it became customary during
the period of absolutism to have state portraits painted of prime
ministers, the figures in charge of state affairs. The best examples
of such portraits are Philippe de Champaigne's likenesses of
Armand-Jean du Plcssis de Richelieu, who rose to great power under
Louis XIII. Richelieu's family had risen to the lower nobility by
office; his mother was the daughter of a lawyer, while his father
had served as Seigneur de Richelieu, Provost General of the Royal
Household under Henry IV. At the age of twenty-one, Richelieu was
nominated by Henry IV as candidate for the office of Bishop of Lucon,
a position for which his family in Poitou traditionally possessed
the right of proposal, and which he finally succeeded in obtaining
by skilfully tricking Pope Paul V about his age. The way was now
open for this legally adroit clergyman to enter a career in
politics. Patronized by Maria de' Medici and Concino Concini, he was
eventully appointed Secretary of State in 1616.
Among the other proteges of Maria de' Medici was Philippe de
Champaigne from Brussels, who was appointed painter to the court by
her in 1628, and put in charge of decorating the Palais du
Luxembourg.
Many of Champaigne's portraits reveal the influence of the
Jansenists, a Catholic sect supported largely by bourgeois circles
whose quasi-Calvimstic severity was directed against Jesuit laxity
in matters of faith. One such portrait is the famous "ex voto"
portrait of two nuns, of whom one was his own daughter. Considering
his religious views, it might perhaps seem odd that Champaigne was
commissioned to paint the portrait of a cardinal and prime minister
who was responsible for the persecution of the Huguenots. However,
Richelieu's background and policy had made him an exponent of
bourgeois political thought and a statesman who made determined use
of his office to dismantle the privileges of the aristocracy and
centralize state power (cf. his edict of 1626). Despite his eminent
position within the church, Richelieu, a typically "modern"
rationalist, was driven by an ascetic work ethos. His puritanical
attitude to state office is accentuated in the famous full-length
portrait, of which there are a number of variants. Although the
fullness of his cardinal's robe is made quite apparent here, its
triangular shape draws the eye upwards to his small, pale face,
which, marked by years of tiring office, and partly as a result of
the total masking of his body and rhetorical agility of his hands,
seems the focal point of a puritanical force of will directed
against the body.
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Cardinal Richelieu's face is emphasised even more strongly in a
triple portrait which unites three views of him, two profile and one
frontal, so that the initial impression is of three separate persons
communicating with each other. However, this was no caprice intended
to attract undue attention, but was primarily painted to act as a
model for a bust commissioned from the sculptor Francesco Mocchi
(1580-1654). Anthony van Dyck had painted a triple portrait
of Charles I of England to the same end for Giovanni
Lorenzo Bernini. Whether or not Hyacinthe Rigaud's portrait
of two views of his mother was intended as a model for a sculpture
has never been fully explained. It is difficult not to see a
parallel between the creation of an apparent group portrait out of
two or three different views of one sitter, and the split of the ego
of the solitary, narcissistic individual engaged in exploratory,
internal dialogue. This trait was of particular interest to the
moralists of the day (e.g. Michel de Montaigne). A recurrent form of
schizoid depersonalisa-tion found in the seventeenth century was
expressed in the theme of the "Doppel-ganger", a motif especially
popular in Spanish literature.
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Anthony van Dyck
Charles I
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Hyacinthe Rigaud
Two Views of the Artist's Mother
1695
Musee du Louvre, Paris
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The painting of three different views of the sitter's face may
have been inspired by knowledge of the "Prudentia" theme, a subject
of central importance in Italian painting of the Renaissance. A
fifteenth-century Florentine relief (London, Victoria and Albert
Museum) shows an - admittedly syncretistic - allegory of prudence in
the form of three faces. This can be traced back to Cicero's
discussion of "prudentia" as a human quality consisting of three
parts - "mcmoria" (memory), "intelligentia" (understanding) and "providentia"
(foresight) - each of which, in turn, corresponded to a temporal
dimension: past, present or future (Cicero, De inventione II, 13).
Inscribed on an allegory of prudence attributed to Titian are the
words: EX PRAETERITO/PRAESENS PRUDENTER AGIT/NI FUTURA AC-TIONE
DETURPET (from the past come the wise actions in the present of a
person who wishes to make no mistakes in future). This could almost
be Richelieu's motto, a man who took every known factor into account
before coming to a rational decision.
Norbert Schneider
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Philippe de Champaigne
Cardinal Richelieu
c. 1637
OiI on canvas, 260 x 178 cm
National Gallery, London
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Philippe de Champaigne
Cardinal Richelieu
Oil on canvas, 222 x 155 cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris
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Cardinal
Richelieu
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Louis XIII
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Marie de
Medicis
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Cardinal
Richelieu
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Armand Jean du Plessis,
Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu
(9 September 1585–4 December 1642) was a
French clergyman, noble, and statesman.
Cardinal Richelieu was born Armand Jean
du Plessis in Paris on September 9, 1585. He
took the name Richelieu from the name of his
family's
estate. Armand was extremely intelligent and
at the age of nine was sent to
College
de Navarre in Paris. In 1602, at age
seventeen he began
studying
theology seriously. In 1606 he was appointed
Bishop of Luçon, and in 1622 Pope Gregory
made Richelieu a Cardinal.
Cardinal Richelieu rose from his provincial
post in Luçon to become France's Secretary
of State for
foreign
affairs
in 1616, and then on to head the royal
council as prime minister of France in 1624.
His powerful, analytical intellect was
characterized by a reliance on reason,
strong will, the ability to govern others
and use
political
power effectively.
Even before becoming Prime Minister,
Richelieu's political views were
well-defined. He had a clear idea of how
society should function. Everyone played a
specific role in the system, making their
unique contributions: the clergy through
prayer;
the nobility with arms under the control of
the king, and the common people through
obedience. Richelieu believed in the divine
right of the king, whose role it was to
promote peace and order in society.
Richelieu adhered to the maxim that "the
ends justify the means." Although he
devoutly believed in the mission of the
Roman Church, he sought to assign the church
a more practical role. Richelieu argued that
the state is above everything, and that
religion is a mere instrument to promote the
policies of the state.
When Richelieu rose to
power France's King Louis XIII had
not solidified his authority in France. A
combination of political corruption, an
independent nobility, and the power of a
Protestant group called the Huguenots,
threatened the monarchy's rule. In 1627
Richelieu set out to secure the authority of
the crown through force and political
repression. By 1631 he had crushed Huguenot
resistance, severely punished nobles who
plotted against the king, and replaced his
enemies in the government. In addition, he
expanded the king's authority in the
provinces through the use of royal agents
called intendants.
Richelieu insisted that the king apply the
law with severity, otherwise the state could
not survive. He emphasized that rigorous
punishment of even small crimes would
forestall greater ones. Through this
reasoning, Richelieu provided his sovereign
a rationale for the harsh rule he knew to be
requisite with strengthening and maintaining
the authority of the French State.
Cardinal Richelieu has been admired by many
historians for his intelligence and energy.
During his service as prime minister he
helped France become the leading power in
Europe. He supported the French navy and the
establishment of French colonies in Africa
and the Caribbean. Richelieu was also a
great patron of the arts. He rebuilt the
Sorbonne in Paris, supported promising
writers and founded the French Academy. Many
French historians consider Richelieu as the
founder of French unity, as well as the
person who released France from its medieval
nature.
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Philippe de Champaigne
King Louis XIII
1655
Oil on canvas, 108 x 86 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
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see collection:
Philippe de Champaigne
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