Portrait of a Man
1693
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Oval, 32 1/2 x 25 3/4 in. (82.6 x 65.4 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
Accession Number
48.187.733
Tags
Art Historical Context
Hyacinthe Rigaud's *Portrait of a Man*1693) invites visitors into the refined world of late 17th-century French portraiture. Painted in oil on canvas, this oval composition measures 32½ × 25¾ inches, a format often chosen for its elegant, jewel-like intimacy, ideal for private display among the elite. Now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Paintings department it entered the collection through the bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth in 1948. Rigaud, a master of the French Baroque style, crafted this work early in his illustrious career, just before his fame peaked with grand ro...
About the Artist
Hyacinthe Rigaud · 1659–1743
Rigaud was one of the foremost painters of the later reign of Louis XIV. His subjects were drawn largely from court circles, specializing in the state portrait. His style included a greater formality to portraiture, in contrast to the previous style of understated elegance made popular by Titian and Anthony van Dyck. Rigaud's style continued dominate official portraiture in France into the 18th ce...