Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) workshop. Presumed portrait of Bullion

Oil on canvas, 82 cm x 66 cm.
Antique frame, 96 cm x 80 cm.

Our portrait, known as Noel Bullion (this name should be considered with all due caution), is a magnificent workshop version. We know of two other versions of our painting, one at the National Museum in Stockholm and a second that was offered by Wildenstein at the Frieze Masters in London in 2022. With our painting, we notably discover Philippe de Champaigne's incomparable talent for depicting hands like no other, most certainly inspired by the Italian Renaissance, notably "Le Bronzino" (1503-1572). Also noteworthy are the delicate, deep black velvets and fabrics, a rendering that exudes elegance.

Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674)

Philippe de Champaigne stands at the top of the genre hierarchy of the time. He trained in the Spanish Netherlands, which he left for Paris after refusing to go to Antwerp to work with Rubens. He was a painter of religious scenes and a great portraitist. Stylistically, he managed to reconcile his Flemish origins, which clearly appear in his landscapes, with French classicism, of which he was one of the founders along with Vouet, Poussin, and Lorrain. He favored sobriety and refused to paint fleeting expressions in order to better capture the sitter's inner self and psychology. He was an important figure. He has been teaching at the Royal Academy since 1653. He has a busy studio whose main student is his nephew Jean-Baptiste (1631-1684), with whom he decorated the King's apartment at the Château de Vincennes (1659) and that of the Grand Dauphin at the Château des Tuileries (1666). His fame has crossed our borders. As for portraits, he is in great demand by the princes of the Church, the high nobility, the high officials, not to mention parliamentarians. For the rest, he painted for the Val de Grâce, the Luxembourg Palace, the Carmel of the Faubourg Saint Jacques, for Louis XIII, Richelieu...