Florent de La Mare-Richart Allegory of America or Portrait of...
Florent de La Mare-Richart
Bayeux 1630 - 1718 Versailles
Allegory of America or Portrait of a Young Boy
Oil on canvas, originally top shaped and relined, unframed
45,5 x 37,8 cm ; 17⅞ by 14⅞ in.
Catalogue Note:
A pupil of Laurent de La Hyre, Florent de La Mare-Richart was admitted as a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as a portrait painter in 1677 and exhibited at the Salon until 1704. :
In the present composition, a servant clothed in magnificently coloured feathers presents an arrow to a child sitting comfortably among plump cushions. Also crowned with feathers, the child is drawing back his bow while a brightly coloured parrot at his feet tries to undo his shoelaces. The scene takes place against the background of an exotic landscape overlooked by a palm tree. The interpretation of these elements seems to suggest that the scene is an allegory of the Americas.
Mare-Richart was known for his talents as a portrait painter, and this could also be a commissioned portrait, following the model – fashionable at the time – of the painting Duchesse de Valentinois, now in the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. MV 6088), in which she appears with her servant.
Finally, it is worth noting the chantourné form of the composition, which suggests that the painting could have been a model for a decorative scheme.
Provenance:
In the same collection since the 1980s.
Estimate
Time, Location
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Florent de La Mare-Richart
Bayeux 1630 - 1718 Versailles
Allegory of America or Portrait of a Young Boy
Oil on canvas, originally top shaped and relined, unframed
45,5 x 37,8 cm ; 17⅞ by 14⅞ in.
Catalogue Note:
A pupil of Laurent de La Hyre, Florent de La Mare-Richart was admitted as a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as a portrait painter in 1677 and exhibited at the Salon until 1704. :
In the present composition, a servant clothed in magnificently coloured feathers presents an arrow to a child sitting comfortably among plump cushions. Also crowned with feathers, the child is drawing back his bow while a brightly coloured parrot at his feet tries to undo his shoelaces. The scene takes place against the background of an exotic landscape overlooked by a palm tree. The interpretation of these elements seems to suggest that the scene is an allegory of the Americas.
Mare-Richart was known for his talents as a portrait painter, and this could also be a commissioned portrait, following the model – fashionable at the time – of the painting Duchesse de Valentinois, now in the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. MV 6088), in which she appears with her servant.
Finally, it is worth noting the chantourné form of the composition, which suggests that the painting could have been a model for a decorative scheme.
Provenance:
In the same collection since the 1980s.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
