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French school of the XVIIth century, attributed to Henri Testelin. Oil on canvas.
The fruit of the union of the two most powerful dynasties in Europe, the houses of Bourbon and Habsburg, the one who would soon be called the Sun King succeeded his father Louis XIII on May 14, 1643, shortly before the age of 5. At his birth, the young Louis was given the nickname Dieudonné because it was only after twenty-three years of marriage that the heir to the throne of France was born, and was thus considered a gift from heaven. He will be the 64th king of France.
An original work, our portrait, dated around 1643, is contemporary with those executed by the Beaubrun cousins (double portrait of Louis and his brother 1642, Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation in Majorca) or Claude Deruet (portrait of the Dauphin Louis, Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans). As in the latter, the royal child wears a feather with a crush to match his dress and an apron richly decorated with embroidery and lace. Stylistically, we attribute our painting to Henri Testelin who portrayed the young king on several occasions.
This delightful portrait is highlighted by a French carved and gilded wood frame from the Louis XIV period.
Dimensions : 56 x 45 cm - 75 X 64 cm with the frame.
Henri Testelin (Paris 1616 - The Hague 1695) succeeded his father Gilles Testelin as painter to King Louis XIII. He was one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Thanks to his portraits, he was successful and played a decisive role in the development of the official doctrine of the arts. Among his official portraits, the two paintings preserved in the Château de Versailles Museum; Louis XIV aged 10 (1648) and Louis XIV protector of the Academy (1668) are remarkable examples of his art. As a Protestant, he was excluded from the Academy in 1681 and took refuge in the United Provinces.
