Allegory Of Hearing - Circle Of François De Troy (1645 - 1730)

This rare oil on copper from the French school is part of the fashion initiated by François de Troy in the kingdom of France in this second half of the 17th century: our allegorical portrait is treated with great sensitivity combining charm and finesse. In her composition, our painter chooses to illustrate the sense of hearing with a series of wind instruments that the young woman grasps with her slender fingers: a soft flute in her left hand, an oboe and a clarinet in her hand. right. And to reinforce the idea that the sound emitted by these instruments is born from the air, our allegorical figure is downwind and his purple stole flies away.

Our portrait is in its original provincial frame in carved and gilded wood.
Dimensions: 16 x 13 cm - 21 x 18 cm with the frame

François de Troy (Toulouse 1645 - Paris 21.11.1730) discovers painting under the brushes of his father but it is in Paris, with Claude Lefebvre (1632 - 1675 ), that he perfects and learns the art of portraiture. He settled there in 1662 and showed real talent very early on. It was with his “Mercury and Argus” that he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1674 as a history painter, Academy of which he took over in 1708. Joseph Malliot (1736-1811), in his manuscript "Life of a few artists whose works make the ornament of the city of Toulouse", perfectly sums up the art of François de Troy: "Worthy pupil of Lefèvre, his works, full of intelligence and finesse, charmed by color. He deserved and received the highest praise for portraits of women. Without altering its features, he had the art of adding graces and nobility. Alongside Hyacinthe Rigaud and Nicolas De Largillière, François de Troy is one of the greatest portrait painters under the reign of Louis XIV. Some historians even attribute to him the invention of the mythological portrait. His son Jean-François de Troy will follow his path and show immense talent.