Getty Museum
Portrait of Louis de Silvestre
Creator
Maurice-Quentin de La TourFrench Artist · 1704–1788
All works by this person →> I penetrate into the depths of my subjects without their knowing it, and capture them whole. > > -- Maurice-Quentin de La Tour > > Finished pastels emerged as a format for elite portraiture in France in the late 1600s. In the 1700s, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour was among the most celebrated and accomplished pastel portraitists. His success led to commissions from the royal family, the French court
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1753
- Medium
- Black and white chalk and pastel, on blue paper (now discolored)
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 0ea6d1af-5df8-463f-9e06-a6d48695f0db
>...the clarity of the cold carnation of the old skin, the creases of the smile, the folds made by the passage of time; the powerful pleating of the forehead... The Goncourt brothers, influential art critics and collectors, were truly moved by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour's portrait of the director of the Académie Royale, Louis de Silvestre. Other painters and draftsmen had produced formal portraits of this important figure, but none captured de Silvestre as frankly and naturally as in this preparation for a more elaborate pastel, now in the collection of the Musee Antoine-Lécuyer, St. Quentin, France. De Silvestre appears in an unguarded moment without his wig. The scarf tied around his head suggests he is working in his studio. La Tour candidly recorded his 73-year-old subject's blood vessels, wrinkles, and moles, giving De Silvestre realistic human qualities that formal portraiture of the period did not often capture. He and La Tour were friends, which also contributes to the intimacy of the portrait. Made seven years before de Silvestre's death, this drawing strikingly conveys the physical effects of age.
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