Portrait Of François Thiballier, Royal Navy, Wing Commander Of Louis XIV

François Thiballier, Lord of Thurelles, born in 1623 and died on April 23, 1672, was a French naval officer of the 17th century. Head of the galley squadron in the Royal Navy, he commanded an expedition to the East Indies (1670-1672) during which he died. He began his career in the Royal Navy and was promoted to galley captain in 1652. He took part in several battles against the Spaniards during the Franco-Spanish war. Captain in 1664 or 1669, he was promoted to squadron commander at Rochefort in 1669. Louis XIV and the Minister of Marine Colbert chose him to lead an expedition to India. A very complete account of this expedition was published by Miss Madeleine Fouché: "The squadron grouped in the bay of La Rochelle consisted of six warships, two large boats loaded with equipment and a hospital boat, in all 9 vessels, 2,050 men including a thousand soldiers and a total of 318 guns. The casting off, scheduled for January 1670, took place on Sunday, March 30. September and October are busy reconnoitering the coasts west and east of the Cape of Good Hope. Around November 1, the squadron left the continent and sailed to Dauphine Island, which it left only in April 1671, to go to Saint Denis on Bourbon Island. We return to Fort Dauphin, then on August 11, we finally set sail, heading for Surat in India. On January 24, 1672, we enter the bay of Goa. On May 22, 1672, the fleet reached Trincomali Bay, the destination of the voyage. Previously, death, sudden, without disease, probably a heart attack, embolism or apoplexy, struck Thiballier de Thurelles. On April 23, 1672, after having had a good dinner, he suddenly felt very ill and said to his master surgeon: “I am ill, I think I will die if you do not take care of me. “By saying that, he went to bed and never got up again” François Thiballier de Thurelles did not return from this eventful expedition. He finds death near the goal, victim towards Ceylon of a crisis of apoplexy. He is buried on the spot and his brother René inherits the fief of Thurelle. Oil on Canvas from the 17th Century fixed on a wooden panel. Dimensions without frame: 81 cm x 73 cm Dimensions with frame: 97 cm x 89 cm Note: accidents, repaints The work must have been larger originally Contemporary frame Sold as is