Portrait of the Grand Dauphin, attributed to Alexis Simon Belle (1674-1734)

Alexis Simon Belle (Paris 1674-1734) attributed. Portrait of the Grand Dauphin circa 1700.

Oil on relined canvas, 81 cm x 64.5 cm.
Antique, fully sculpted frame, 95 cm x 78.5 cm.

The Grand Dauphin, eldest son of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria, is superbly depicted here as a bust, dressed in damascened armor, with the blue ribbon of the Holy Spirit across his chest, against a dark background. The face, imbued with gentleness, stands out in a golden light, typical of Simon Belle's brushwork, whose smoother strokes and rosy complexions contrast with Rigaud's sculptural vigor. The artist uses the official compositions established by Hyacinthe Rigaud, but softens their tone. Several reproductions of this painting are known, all in the opposite direction to our painting (i.e., based on engravings), which supports, if necessary, our hypothesis of a work by Simon Belle.

The Grand Dauphin (1661-1711).

Louis of France, known as Monseigneur or the Grand Dauphin, born on November 1, 1661, at the Château de Fontainebleau and died on April 14, 1711, at the Château de Meudon, was the eldest son of King Louis XIV of France and Queen Maria Theresa of Austria. He was de facto Dauphin of France, as the firstborn of the king's sons. Having died before his father, he never acceded to the throne, but he was the father of King Philip V of Spain and the grandfather of the future King Louis XV of France. He was a great collector and an enlightened aesthete, amassing remarkable works of art for his residences, notably the Château de Meudon, where he gathered a refined and cultivated court. The Grand Dauphin often retired there rather than remain at Versailles; he was said to feel freer there. It must be said that affairs of state did not really interest him, although he enjoyed performing military duties. It was in this field that he made his mark with a feat of arms: the capture of the citadel of Philippsburg in 1688, during the War of the League of Augsburg. His fame was then magnified by the painter Pierre Mignard, author of a now-famous painting. His illustrious father, initially pleased to see his heir finally take an interest in business, was nevertheless said to have taken umbrage at this sudden fame. He did not hesitate to make himself heard when necessary, notably during the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which he did not want (Louis XIV would have done better to follow his son in this matter), and when it was necessary to designate an heir to the crown of Spain: it was his younger son, the Duke of Anjou, who was chosen. On the family side, he married Maria Anna of Bavaria in 1680. Three children were born from this union: — Louis of France (1682-1712), Duke of Burgundy; — Philip V (1683-1746), Duke of Anjou; — Charles of France (1686-1714), Duke of Berry. Maria Anna of Bavaria died very young, at twenty-nine, in 1690. The Grand Dauphin was thus widowed at twenty-eight; In 1695, he secretly married Émilie de Joly de Choin, former lady-in-waiting to Mademoiselle de Blois, who, incidentally, had dismissed her. The Grand Dauphin died on April 14, 1711, at his château in Meudon, four years before his father, Louis XIV.

Alexis Simon Belle (Paris 1674-1734)

Trained in Paris in the studio of François de Troy, Alexis-Simon Belle distinguished himself from the very beginning as one of the most talented portrait painters of his generation. From an early age, he devoted himself exclusively to the art of court portraiture, following in the footsteps of his masters and the great role models of the reign of Louis XIV. He entered the service of the small Jacobite court of the pretender James II Stuart and his son James Edward Stuart, established in Saint-Germain-en-Laye after the Glorious Revolution. In this milieu of British exiles, he produced numerous official portraits, marked by a search for elegance, dignity, and likeness, helping to shape the image of the suitor and his family. Admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1703 (with a portrait of his master François de Troy, now preserved at Versailles), Belle subsequently established himself as a portraitist highly sought after by the courts of France and Poland. He notably executed portraits of Marie Leszczinska, future Queen of France, and her son, as well as those of Mlle de Béthisy and her brother. His style, still imbued with the classical elegance of Pierre Mignard, is above all in the tradition of François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and Nicolas de Largillière. With his refined sense of light and the grace of his compositions, Belle was able to combine the splendor of state portraiture with a certain gentleness of expression, which already prefigured 18th-century taste. Alongside his work at court, Belle trained several students, including Jacques-André-Joseph Camelot Aved (1702-1766), the future portrait painter to the king and an influential member of the Académie. At his death in Paris in 1734, Alexis-Simon Belle was listed as "painter of the king"