Léonor Goyon de Matignon
ca. 1657
Medium
Engraving; second state of three (Petitjean & Wickert)
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 1/8 × 9 9/16 in. (30.8 × 24.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lev Tsitrin, 2000
Accession Number
2000.416.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 17th French portraiture with Robert Nanteuil's engravingLéonor Goyon de Matignon* (ca. 1657). Nanteuil, one of the era's greatest engravers and the official portraitist to King Louis XIV, masterfully captures the Marquis de Matignon, a prominent nobleman and military figure. This second state of three—cataloged by Petitjean and Wickert—showcases the subject's dignified profile adorned with a cross and coat of arms, symbols of his high status and likely membership in a chivalric order like the Order of the Holy Spirit. Nanteuil's technique elevated engraving from...
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...