-
1 of 253523 objects
Attributed to Henri Toutin (1614-83)
Louis XIV (1638-1715) when a boy c.1645-50
Enamel | 5.5 cm (support, diameter) | RCIN 421754
-
Henri Toutin was a critical figure in the birth of the art of portrait miniature painting in enamel. He produced the first known enamel portrait (Charles I; Mauritshuis, The Hague), adapting a medium which had formerly been used only for decorative purposes to the production of portraits. Toutin was based in Paris, where it is thought he may have met and trained Jean Petitot, who was to transmit this new technique widely through his prolific output over a long career. Toutin's works, by contrast, are rare, and the present enamel is attributed to him on the basis of the fine, stippled technique. Unusually, the enamel is concave. Formerly identified as Henry, Duke of Gloucester, third son of Charles I, the image in fact derives from a portrait by Henri Testelin of Louis XIV as a child (Versailles) and shows him wearing a grey, gold and white tunic with the blue sash of the Order of St Esprit.
Provenance
First recorded in the Royal Collection during the reign of Queen Victoria
-
Creator(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Enamel
Measurements
5.5 cm (support, diameter)
7.0 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)