Recueil de portraits (...)

About this artwork

Behoort waarschijnlijk tot een serie portretten, grotendeels door Etienne Desrochers, getiteld: 'Recueil de portraits de personnes qui se sont distinguées tant dans les Armes que dans Belles-Lettres et les Arts, comme aussi la famille royale de France et autres cours étrangères'. De serie werd initieel uitgegeven door Desrochers en aangekondigd in 'Mercure' in mei 1726, p. 985. Echter was Desrochers reeds enkele jaren eerder begonnen met het uitgeven van de serie. Na de dood van Desrochers werd ...

Art Historical Context

Étienne Desrochers' *Recueil de portraits*, circa 1726, is a finely executed engraving measuring just 146 × 98 mm, likely one of a celebrated series honoring France's elite. This collection immortalized distinguished figures from military leaders and scholars to artists and members of the royal family, as well as foreign courts. Desrochers, a master French engraver of the early 18th century, captured their likenesses with remarkable precision, blending the grandeur of Baroque portraiture with emerging Rococo elegance. Published initially by Desrochers himself, the series was heralded in the *Mercure de France* in May 1726, though he had begun issuing plates years earlier. Following his death, it was carried forward by Gilles Edme Petit and later Jean François Daumont in Paris, ensuring its enduring popularity. Engravings like this were revolutionary for their time, allowing affordable reproduction and wide dissemination of elite imagery through booksellers and collectors. This petite portrait exemplifies the cultural fervor for celebrity and legacy in ancien régime France, bridging art and history. Visitors can appreciate how such prints turned personal admiration into a shared visual archive, making the illustrious accessible to a broader public.