Louis XV as a child - French school from the second half of the 18th century after Pierre Gobert

French school from the second half of the 18th century after Pierre Gobert. Louis XV as a child at the age of 10.

Relined canvas measuring 74 cm by 59 cm.
Frame measuring 86 cm by 71 cm.

This very beautiful painting is a partial reproduction of an original painted by Pierre Gobert in 1720, which has apparently disappeared today but was engraved by Jean Audran.

Pierre Gobert (1662, 1744)

He was the son of the sculptor Jean II Gobert. Born into a family of artists, Pierre Gobert began working for the court at a very young age. In 1682, he received the commission for the Portrait of the Duke of Burgundy aged a few weeks (lost), the first in a long list of portraits of children, a genre in which Gobert would excel the most. Approved by the Royal Academy in 1686, he was very quickly overloaded with commissions, his career as a portrait painter, notably in Munich for the court of Bavaria, probably left him little time. From 1707, Gobert worked for the court of Lorraine where he had been called by Duke Leopold. During this stay, he painted an impressive number of portraits which implies the existence of a workshop. Back in Paris, he worked very regularly for the Court, producing portraits of most of the members of the royal family, of which the Palace of Versailles preserves the most interesting examples. This prolific artist produced many portraits with rather fixed attitudes, which is why his talent has sometimes been depreciated in comparison with the works of other artists, including those of François de Troy or Hyacinthe Rigaud.