Marquis de Chamilly, circa 1687 - Jacob Ferdinand Voet (1639 –1689)

Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639 – Paris 1689)
Portrait of Noël Bouton, Marquis de Chamilly (Chamilly, 1636 - Paris, 1715)

Paris, circa 1687-1689
Oil on canvas in oval shape
H.73 cm, w. 60 cm
A Louis XIV period finely carved giltwood frame
Framed : h. 91 cm, w. 78 cm

Sold with a certificate and study by Francesco Petrucci, director of Palazzo Chigi, Roma, specialist of Jacob Ferdinand Voet and author of monogrpahy of the artist:
Ferdinand Voet (1639-1689) detto Ferdinando de' ritratti ; editor: ?Ugo Bozzi, 2005

Very beautiful portrait of the Marshal of France under Louis XIV, Noël Bouton, Marquis de Chamilly, Governor of Strasbourg (1681-1715), Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
The painting represents the Marshal in bust, turned three-quarters, looking at the spectator in the face.
His face illuminated by the lively and clear eyes, marked by authority with a benevolent expression appears in the middle of thick curls of his leonine wig whose powdered brown hair falls in cascades on his shoulders.
He wears around his neck a tie made of a red ribbon tied in shells, which is reflected in his breastplate. Dressed in a breastplate with metallic reflections decorated with golden patterns in particular at the joints, his only visible ornaments are the garnet velvet facings at the junctions of pieces of armor.
He wears in saltire the blue ribbon of the Order of Saint-Esprit.
Power and charisma emanate from this military portrait. The marquis, thanks to his stature, his bearing and the way he holds his head, gives us an image of a valiant warrior.
The theatrical lighting abundantly illuminates the face and creates strong metallic reflections in the armor which contrast with their coldness with the warmth of the neutral background.

Painted with brilliance and all the mastery of the painter at the height of his career, Jacob Ferdinand Voet gives us here a brilliant evocation of a high dignitary of the kingdom at the time of Louis XIV.

This is the only identified portrait of the Marquis, his likeness being known until the present discovery thanks to two engravings (Thomassin in 1697, Scupel in 1703). Thomassin's engraving reproduces our portrait fairly faithfully except for the aged features and could be made either from our portrait or from its replica. (according to Mr Petrucci's opinion).
The Marquis de Chamilly having been promoted to knight of the order of Saint Esprit in 1705, the blue scarf on our portrait was added after this promotion by an unknown artist.


Noël Bouton was baptized on April 19, 1637 in Chamilly in Saône-et-Loire. He was the son of Nicolas Bouton, Lord of Chamilly and Marie de Cirey, daughter of a councilor in the Parliament of Burgundy. His godfather was the king's councilor, Nicolas Brulard, Baron of Sombernon and Mâlain. Although Noël received the lordships of Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune, Dennevy and Saint-Gilles, he lived little in Burgundy. Indeed, like all the members of his family, he distinguished himself very young in a military career and fought in the royal army, particularly in Franche-Comté and Flanders before becoming governor of Fribourg. He was appointed military governor in Strasbourg in 1681 following the capitulation of the city and its attachment to the Kingdom of France, then commander in the provinces of Poitou and Aunis.
Before his exploits on the French borders, he fought in Crete in 1668 during the siege of Candia and distinguished himself in the Dutch War in 1675 by the defense of Grave, which lasted 93 days and cost the Prince of Orange 16,000 men.

Before experiencing military glory, he acquired, in spite of himself, a singular notoriety. In his youth, in 1663, he was sent to an expeditionary force in Portugal. This stay placed him at the heart of a controversy that broke out in 1669. That year, Portuguese Letters appeared, a fiery correspondence from a nun he had met in Béjà. Despite the statements of his contemporaries, it is now proven that Noël Bouton de Chamilly was not the recipient of these letters, which, moreover, were probably not written by a Portuguese nun. The fact remains that Portuguese Letters constitute the archetype of the epistolary novel.

Raised to the dignity of Marshal of France on January 14, 1703, he was part of the 27th promotion of the Knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, made in the chapel of the Palace of Versailles on February 2, 1705.
Noël Bouton died in Paris without posterity on January 8, 1715.

Jacob Ferdinand Voet, known as "Monsù Ferdinando" or "Ferdinand de' ritratti" (Antwerp 1639 - Paris 1689), was par excellence one of the greatest fashionable portrait painters of the Baroque era, dominating the European scene for thirty years, between the mid-1960s and the end of the 1980s, when he established himself as one of the leading specialists in Grand Siècle Europe for his international production. The painter's fame was fostered by the creation of the "Gallerie delle Belle", that is, the collections of portraits of the most fascinating ladies of the time: from the series created for the Chigi family in 1672 and inspired by the Mancini sisters, to those produced, reproducing, integrating or varying the originals, for the Colonna, the Savoia, the Massimo and other famous families. In 1669, Voët entered the good graces of Christina of Sweden, who entrusted him with the publication in replicas and variants of her official image, engraved and the subject of numerous copies.
He lived the last part of his life in France, painting numerous portraits of personalities of the Court: from the Marquis of Louvois, Prime Minister, to Monsieur, brother of the King (Madrid, Prado Museum), passing through other important dignitaries. Today we know that he became "painter to His Most Christian Majesty", but his rising career was interrupted by his sudden death in Paris on 26 September 1689, in his house on the Quai de Guénégaud near the Pont Neuf. His influence on many French portrait painters, including Pierre Mignard and Hyacinthe Rigaud, was fundamental, often confused with him by attributing his portraits to him.