Charles-Maurice Le Tellier

Art Historical Context

Step into the refined world of 17th French portraiture with Robert Nanteuil'sCharles-Maurice Le Tell* (1670), a masterful engraving now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Department of Drawings and Prints. intimate portrait, measuring 15 7/16 × 12 1/8 inches on its sheet, captures the subject's dignified presence through Nanteuil's precise burin work, a technique that allowed for intricate lines and subtle tonal gradations on copper plates. Nanteuil, one of the era's premier engravers, elevated printmaking to an art form rivaling painting, often depicting nobility and courtiers during Louis XIV's opulent reign. His style—rooted in Baroque elegance—emphasizes psychological depth and lifelike texture, making engravings like this ideal for widespread dissemination of elite likenesses across Europe. Produced at the height of absolutist France, it reflects the cultural prestige of such portraits as symbols of power and status. Generously gifted to the Met in 2001 by Mr. Lev Tsitrin, this print exemplifies the enduring appeal of engraving as both technical marvel and historical document, inviting us to ponder Le Tellier's world amid the Sun King's splendor.

About the Artist

Robert Nanteuil · 1623–1678

Robert Nanteuil (1623-1678) was a French portrait engraver, draughtsman, and pastellist who became the preeminent portraitist to the court of Louis XIV. His technical mastery and royal patronage fundamentally transformed the status of engraving in France, elevating it from a mechanical craft to a recognized fine art. Nanteuil stands as the outstanding French portrait engraver of the seventeenth c...