Le Chancelier Michel IV Le Tellier

About this artwork

This prints by french artist Robert Nanteuil exemplifies the artistic achievements of 1662. The artist's work in engraving demonstrates the importance of printmaking as both an artistic medium and a means of disseminating images widely. Executed in engraving, this work demonstrates the sophisticated technical processes involved in printmaking. The medium required specialized knowledge of materials, tools, and procedures, including preparing plates or blocks, applying ink, and achieving even pres...

Art Historical Context

Robert Nanteuil's *Le Chancelier Michel Le Tellier* (1662) is a masterful engraving portraying the prominent French statesman and Chancellor under Louis XIV. As one of the era's leading portrait engravers, Nanteuil the subject's dignified presence, complete with a coat of arms symbolizing noble status and authority. Created during the height of the French Baroque period, this print reflects the grandeur of the Sun King's court, where such images served to commemorate powerful figures and disseminate their likenesses across Europe. Engraving, Nanteuil's specialty, involved incising intricate lines into a metal plate with specialized tools, inking it, and pressing paper to produce multiple impressions. This labor-intensive technique demanded precision to achieve fine details, tonal gradations, and textures, as seen in the portrait's subtle modeling of face and attire. At 12 5/8 x 9 13/16 inches, its intimate scale was ideal for collectors, books, and cabinets of curiosity, making elite portraiture accessible beyond royal patrons. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Mr. Lev Tsitrin, 2001), this work highlights printmaking's revolutionary role from the Renaissance onward. By enabling editioned originals, it democratized art, fostering wider cultural exchange and preserving 17th-century French achievements for modern audiences.

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...