Jean Charles Garnier d'Isle (1697–1755)
ca. 1750
Medium
Pastel and gouache on blue paper, laid down on canvas
Dimensions
25 3/8 x 21 1/4 in. (64.5 x 54 cm)
Classification
Pastels & Oil Sketches on Paper
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Walter and Leonore Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation Gift, 2002
Accession Number
2002.439
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour Jean Charles Garnier d'Isle (1697–1755), a prominent figure from mid-18th-century France rendered around 1750. Measuring 25 3/8 x 21 1/4 inches, the work employs de La Tour's signature pastel and gouache on blue paper, laid down on for stability—a technique that allowed for luminous, velvety textures and subtle color gradations. The blue ground enhances the subject's features with a soft, atmospheric glow, typical of Rococo portraiture's elegance and intimacy. De La Tour, one of Europe's greatest pastellists during the Enlightenment era, e...