Attributed To Joseph Vivien (1657-1734) - Portrait Of Jean-paul De Bignon

Oil on canvas. 44x34cm. With contemporary carved and gilded wooden frame. Frame measurements: 54.5 x 46 cm. Our piece could be made either from an oil on canvas by Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan, 1659 - Paris, 1743) in 1694 in which he painted the portrait of Jean-Paul Bignon at the age of 32, or from of the print that of Charles Simonneau (Orléans, 1645 – Paris, 1728) in 1695 from the original oil, which cannot be found today and of unknown dimensions, as can be read in the article by Stéphan Perreau, which is part of the Catalog raisonné of the works of Hyacinthe Rigaud, and which we attach in the reference bibliography. From the carved and gilded wooden plaque identifying the painting, which seems as old as the frame, from the middle or the end of the 18th century, we deduce that we can give credibility to the attribution to Joseph Vivien, a contemporary of Rigaud who developed a large part of his artistic career as a portrait painter. Moreover, we know from what Stéphan Perreau explains in his catalog raisonné, that Bignon was mainly represented from 1693 by Joseph Vivien "in a style close to the effigy set by Rigaud, in which the function of abbot stands out clearly". Even so, it is possible that the oil is a copy of Hyacinthe Rigaud's original painting, worked by Rigaud's own studio. The subject, Jean Paul de Bignon (Paris, 1662 – Isle-Belle, 1743), was an ecclesiastic from the time of King Louis XIV. He was appointed abbot of Saint-Quentin-en-Lisle in 1693 but, according to Stéphan Perreau, "his somewhat dissolute morals prevented him from embracing an ecclesiastical career and becoming a bishop, [...and] he had to content himself with a brilliant administrative career, becoming […] State Councilor of the Church in 1701”. As Perreau reports, "he will be remembered above all for his remarkable work at the head of the Royal Library, being director of its library from 1699 to 1714, before officially becoming master of the library and curator of the king's library. the […] 1719, then in Guardian of the private cabinet of the Louvre and the library of Fontainebleau (1720). Note a second portrait of Bignon aged 45, in 1707, also by Rigaud and of unknown dimensions and location, of which Pierre Drevet made a print the same year.