Charles I Of Lorraine – Florence C.1640 Attr. To Justus Sustermans

Oil on canvas.
Facing us seated three-quarters, Charles I of Lorraine (1571 – 1640), fourth Duke of Guise, is portrayed here in the winter of his life. His gaze is that of a man proud to have followed his principles, although they cost him his exile in Florence. Here represented as a military leader in blackened iron armor damascened with gold, his status as a warrior is in no way usurped. The assassination of his father, Henri de Lorraine dit le Balafré, ordered by the King of France Henri III having propelled him early into court intrigues, the tumult of conflicts will pursue him throughout his life as he defeats the League on land and triumphed over the Huguenots at sea.
This portrait attributed to Justus Sustermans, painter of the Medici, can be compared to a similar version dated 1637 and kept at the Uffizi in Florence. In our painting, the Flemish painter reverses the direction of the composition by orienting the bust of Charles I to the right. While both versions depict him in the same armor, the white flapped collar in our painting covers his bust more extensively and features less lace. Nevertheless, the white scarf of our painting offers an increase in floral details catching the light. According to the fashion of his time, the fourth Duke of Guise sports a royal goatee and a fang mustache. To top it off, the painting is sublimated by its powerful Tuscan frame in carved and gilded wood.
If the first works of Sustermans reflect the influence of Pourbus, he quickly adopts a more Florentine manner. His chromatic palette became clearer in the 1630s and his touch became freer. This change in style can be explained by the arrival of many Venetian paintings in Florence, thus contributing to the spread of the taste for colorito within the elite. However, he remained sensitive to the art of his country of origin, Flanders, as evidenced by his commissioning of a painting of the Horrors of War by Rubens in 1638. Combining the naturalistic style of the Flemish and Italian influences, Sustermans manages to restore the vibrant portrait of an aging but still stoic paladin.
A few months ago, the gallery offered a portrait with a rich pedigree representing Roger de Lorraine, Knight of Guise, who was none other than the youngest son of Charles I who died on the battlefield at the age of 29.

Provenance: Old Tuscan collection
Dimensions: 64.5 x 47 cm - 91 x 74 cm with the frame
Sold with invoice and expertise certificate

Biography: Justus Sustermans (Antwerp, September 28, 1597 - Florence, April 24, 1681) is a Flemish painter who does most of his career in Italy. Apprentice of Willem de Vos, he arrived in Italy in 1620 where he was quickly spotted for his talent as a portrait painter. In 1622, he entered the service of Cosimo II de Medici. Having become a court painter, he founded a prolific workshop and painted the greatest personalities of his time, such as Galileo or Mary Magdalene of Austria, whose portraits are now kept at the Uffizi in Florence. Despite an onset of blindness in the 1670s, he continued to paint until his death. His virtuosity will be praised by the contemporary biographer Baldinucci.

Bibliography:
BAUTIER, Pierre, Juste Suttermans: painter of the Medici, Brussels, G. van Oest & Cie, 1912. POULL, Georges,
COLLIN, Hubert, The ducal house of Lorraine which became the imperial and royal house of Austria, Hungary and de Bohême, Nancy, Presses Universitaires de Nancy, 1991.
Sustermans: sessant'anni alla corte dei Medici, (exp. cat., Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, July -October 1983), Florence, Centro Di, 1983.