Pair Of Portraits Of Young Ladies Of Quality. Claude Deruet (1588-1660)

Louis XIII period Oil on oak panels Presented in heavily molded black lacquered frames interspersed with a golden twist and a frieze of gold acanthus leaves. Framed dimensions: 57 x 48 cm. Panel alone: 34 x 26 cm This pair of delightful portraits with delicate faces, executed around 1620/1630, depict two young women who could be Marie-Françoise Elisabeth of Savoy Nemours and Queen Anne of Austria. We know that Deruet painted, among other things, portraits of women with generally very rich costumes and adorned with beautiful jewelry. These two panels, which we are presenting today, are consistent with the production attributed to the artist, but of particularly careful quality. The impasto found throughout the costume, the realistic modeling of the faces and their slightly larger than usual formats, make them "especially" seductive paintings. Claude Deruet (c. 1588-1660) was a 17th-century Baroque painter from Nancy. Apprentice of Bellange in 1605, Deruet stayed in Rome from 1613, where he was a pupil of Tempesta and Cavalier d'Arpin. Returning to Nancy in 1620, he was put in charge of the artistic direction of the court of Lorraine. His output as a painter is varied: bust portraits (Louis XIV as a child, Musée d'Orléans), equestrian portraits (Mme de Saint-Baslemont, Nancy, Musée Lorrain), allegorical scenes (the Four Elements, Musée d'Orléans) or mythological scenes (Diane chasseresse; the Three Goddesses, Nancy, Musée Lorrain: War of the Amazons, two sets of 4 paintings, one at the Strasbourg museum, the other shared between the Metropolitan Museum and the Musée de La Fère), religious works (Calvary, painted for Anne of Austria, Mainz, Landesmuseum; Saint Michel, Nancy, Musée Lorrain). Deruet is not what we call a "Grand Master" but his production is worth it for the "naive" charm that emerges from his plumed horsewomen in the middle of lush landscapes, or his portraits of young unknown women or ladies of the court (always in more or less the same formats, with the same morphotype) adopting the canons of beauty of his time and a preciousness related to mannerism. Good condition. Sold with certificate.