Pierre Seguier
1639
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 31 x 23 cm (12 3/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of John O'Brien
Accession Number
1991.164.40
Art Historical Context
In 1639, French engraver Claude Mellan this striking portrait of Pierre Ségier, the powerful Chancellor of France under Louis XIII. Séguier, a key political figure from 1635 onward, rose through the ranks amid the turbulent religious and political strife of the era, including his role in suppressing Jansenist heresies. Mellan's engraving captures Séguier's dignified likeness—likely based on a painted portrait—on trimmed laid paper, measuring just 31 x 23 cm, making it an intimate yet authoritative print ideal for dissemination among the elite. Mellan's mastery of engraving shines here: using ...
About the Artist
Claude Mellan · 1598–1688
Claude Mellan (1598-1688) was a French draughtsman, engraver, and painter who became one of the most innovative printmakers of the French Baroque period. Born in Abbeville to a family of coppersmiths, Mellan rose to become Peintre et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi (Painter and Engraver in Ordinary to the King), achieving recognition for his extraordinary technical mastery. Mellan's artistic significanc...