Portrait Of A Lady With Carnations, Jean Ranc (1674 - 1735), Paris Circa 1700

Portrait of a woman with carnations
By Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 - Madrid 1735), circa 1700
Oil on oval-shaped canvas,
Dimensions: h. 91cm, W. 72 cm
Frame in gilded and carved wood decorated with laurel leaves from the Louis XIV period
Framed dimensions: h. 108 cm, l. 86 cm
Provenance: Collection of the Marquis de Bailleul at the Château d'Angerville-Bailleul (before 1942).

Important portrait of a young woman represented half-length, turned three-quarter, her face looking at the viewer. Dressed in a brick red velvet dress, an elegant blue drape envelops her face. Styled “à la Fontange”, her powdered hair is pulled up and tied at the back with a red ribbon, several curly locks escape from her bun and fall on her back and shoulders. The face with its perfect oval and regular features dominated by its straight nose is softened by its gray eyes with slightly lowered eyelids. The red tinted complexions on the cheeks and cheekbones color the face and make the portrait come alive. The young woman is depicted standing near a pot of carnations. His strongly lit figure stands out against an architectural background of columns. The artist's palette is made up of contrasts between warm and cold tones. The icy electric blue contrasts with the fiery brick red, the powdered white hair further accentuates the flush of the cheeks. The left arm bent at the elbow, extending the open hand with slightly bent fingers in the foreground brings depth to the composition.
Our portrait, an interesting testimony in the painter's corpus of works, is part of his youth period, around 1700-1705. The former belonging of this portrait to the Marquis de Bailleul reinforces the remarkable character of our painting.
The portrait was examined by Stéphane Perreau, specialist in Jean Ranc and will be included in the artist's catalog raisonné currently being written, under the number P. 43.
The notice written by Mr Perreau is below: “Painted towards 1700-1705, this portrait of a woman is directly inherited from Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean Ranc's master (the hand turned to the front, in a watch movement, the presence of the flower pot from which carnations spring out and the blue drape). The addition in the lower part of the blue drape of an “ove” fold, the large areas of dark brown and its reverse geometric folds are typical of the art of Jean Ranc. The very pronounced shaded parts seem hollowed out in the material and simply enhanced on their edges by broad lines of harsh light brushed with energy. The hair, put in a high bun from which several long strands fall over the shoulders and back, are held back and decorated with a red ribbon with geometric folds. This hairstyle reflects a very widespread fashion in the early years of the 18th century. At this time, high “Fontange” buns tended to lose height while retaining the two curls or “jugs”, placed on either side of the forehead. They are highlighted by a clear shadow which materializes in Ranc a bright light coming from the left of the composition. It is also in the skin tones and their porcelain appearance that the artist's style is revealed. The eyes are highlighted with a black pencil line under the upper eyelid, while the underside of the lower eyelid is largely forced with white, in order to provide more contrast with the very pronounced pink of the cheeks. »
Bibliography: Jean Ranc, a Montpellier at the Court of Kings, Michel Hilaire, Stéphan Perreau, Pierre Stépanoff, Silvana Editoriale; 02/20/2020
Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 - Madrid 1735), one of the most brilliant students of Hyacinthe Rigaud, academician in 1703. Portraitist in Parisian circles close to the Regent for nearly 26 years, he will have the privilege of working at court of Spain for the nephew of Louis XIV, the King of Spain Philip V.