Portrait of François d'Aix de La Chaise, French painter of the 18th century

(25 August 1624 at Aix Castle near Saint-Martin-la-Sauveté - Paris 20 January 1709)

Oil on canvas

Titled on verso

On the spine of the book: W.A.S.U. / AE ILXXX /Reg.3 XVII.

According to the year depicted on the book spine, this portrait was painted around 1703. The painting shows a man in dark regalia, facing slightly to the right and holding a book in red maroquin leather in his hand. Our character wears an opulent ring on his hand and a cross richly decorated with precious stones on his chest; the chain from which the cross hangs peeks out from below his collar. Francois d'Aix de La Chaise, called Père La Chaise, was confessor to the French King Louis XIV and exerted a moderating influence on him after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685 and in the struggle against Jansenism. In 1683, he is said to have secretly celebrated the marriage of the King and Madame de Maintenon after the death of Maria Theresa of Austria. Francois d'Aix de La Chaise did not live in the palace of Versailles, but close to the palace, in the church of Saint-Paul in Paris, as ruled for Jesuits with an official function. His remains rest in the crypt of this church.

Today, we know the name Père Lachaise mainly because of the Parisian cemetery that bears his name. The cementery was created in 1803 by the prefect Nicolas Frochot. King Louis XIV gave the area where the cementery now stands to Père Lachaise to build his retirement residence. At that time, this area was located outside the city limits of Paris. Père Lachaise lived there from 1675 until his death in 1709. The property belonged to the Jesuits until 1762 when it had to be ceded due to the debts of the Père de Jacy. After that, the owners changed several times. An edict published in 1803 stipulated that cemeteries under the supervision of the municipality should be secularised and established outside the urban area. So it was that this cemetery, now very popular with tourists, was created on the grounds that once belonged to the Jesuit priest. The first burial took place on 21 May 1804. Today, with 44 hectares, it is the largest cemetery in Paris and serves as the final resting place of Balzac, Gustave Ciallebotte, Maria Callas, Ingres, Lalique, Modigliani, Proust and Getrude Stein, among others.

Comparative literature:
Georges Guitton, Le Père de La Chaize confesseur de Louis XIV, Paris, 1959.