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| André François Alloys de Theys d'Herculais (1692–1779) |
Artist:Nicolas de Largillierre (French, Paris 1656–1746 Paris)
Date:1727
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:54 1/4 x 41 1/2 in. (137.8 x 105.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1973
Accession Number:1973.311.4
Catalogue Entry
In the possession of the d’Herculais family for generations, this painting was always thought to be a portrait of André François Alloys de Theys d’Herculais (1692–1779). In 1727, d’Herculais would have been about thirty-five years old. He came from a bourgeois family in the region of Grenoble. His father, Claude Alloys (d. 1698), held several important posts in the service of Louis XIV; his mother was Marie de Theys de Tournet. In 1725 he held the rank of captain of cavalry. According to family tradition, he participated in the Battle of Fontarrabie in June 1719.
The sitter's sword is ceremonial and his wig and greatcoat are formal attire, while his helmet and breastplate are allegorical attributes. The breastplate reappears in other portraits by Largillierre, notably those of Jacques François Léonor de Goyon-Matignon, Duc de Valentinois (collection of the late Prince Rainier III of Monaco), of 1718, and Sir Robert Throckmorton (H. M. Treasury and the National Trust, Coughton Court, near Alcester, Worcestershire), of 1729. The artist may have owned the armor and kept it in his studio for the use of clients.
Painted when Largillierre was over seventy, the portrait exemplifies the quiet, restrained style with which he ushered in the Régence period. It would not be until the 1740s that Nattier, Largillierre’s competitor among society portraitists of the next generation, would attain comparable mastery.
Katharine Baetjer 2012
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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