Guillaume de Lamoignon

Art Historical Context

This striking 17th-century engraving portrays Guillaume de Lamoignon, a distinguished French magistrate and president of the Parlement of Paris. Created through the collaborative efforts of master engravers Robert Nanteuil and Gérard Edelinck, the print captures the subject with remarkable precision and dignity. The inclusion of a coat of arms underscores Lamoignon’s noble status and public authority during the reign of Louis XIV, when such portraits served to celebrate influential figures in French society. Nanteuil and Edelinck were leading practitioners of the period’s refined engraving techniques, known for their ability to render intricate details of fabric, hair, and facial expression through delicate lines and subtle tonal gradations. As a print rather than a unique painting, this work allowed Lamoignon’s image to circulate widely among contemporaries, reflecting the growing importance of reproductive media in shaping public memory and prestige. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this sheet measuring roughly 9½ by 7 inches exemplifies the elegance and technical mastery of French Baroque portraiture. Its gift to the museum in 2000 ensures that modern visitors can appreciate how such engravings once connected sitters to the cultural and political life of their era.

About the Artist

Robert Nanteuil|Gérard Edelinck · 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...