Portrait Of Louis XIV In Armor Around 1670, Attributed To Claude Lefebvre (1632-1675)

Portrait of Louis XIV in armor around 1670, attributed to Claude lefebvre (1632-1675)

Canvas of 68 cm by 59 cm
Superb old frame of 86 cm by 79 cm

I have the great pleasure to offer you this magnificent portrait in bust of Louis XIV attributed to Claude Lefebvre. His portraits are rare, those of Louis XIV, even more. This portrait comes from a large English collection (inventory numbers on the back).

Claude lefebvre (1632-1675)

First pupil of his father, Jean I Lefebvre, and of Claude Dhoey, he studied at Fontainebleau and then attended the studio of Le Sueur, then that of Le Brun, which made him work on figures of his great compositions. After a few attempts in religious painting, he turned definitively to the portrait, first marked by the example of Philippe de Champaigne, then by that of Le Brun. He went from the rigorous construction of the first to a more free and natural presentation, even joining at the end of his life the type of animated baroque portrait. His works were much sought after by the aristocracy, who praised their resemblance; so Lefebvre had an abundant production, but of which there are few painted examples. Claude Lefebvre was received at the Academy in 1663; his reception piece (Portrait of Colbert) is at Versailles. The portraits of the artist are often limited to the bust of the model: the presentation is sober; the face, in general, three-quarters. We can see examples of his work in Versailles (Portrait of Charles Couperin and his daughter), in the Carnavalet museum (Madame de Sévigné), in the Musée d'Orléans (Portrait known as "de Le Nôtre"), in Caen (Portrait of 'homme), Metz (Portrait of NE Olivier, 1661), Strasbourg (Portrait of Hugues de Lionne), and at the Museum of New Orleans (impressive half-body portrait of the young Louis XIV).