#Hyacinthe Rigaud

[misscromwellsmonocle]

Portrait of a Young African Man with a Bow (1720) by Hyacinthe Rigaud

[karrova]

Portrait of Madame Grimod de La Reynière, née Marie-Madeleine Mazade (1716–1773), half-length, in a blue velvet cloak and holding a costume mask (detail)

Hyacinthe Rigaud

[history-of-fashion]

ab. 1696 Hyacinthe Rigaud - Konstanty Władysław Sobieski

(Museum of King John III’s Palace at Wilanów)

[granstromjulius]

Hyacinthe Rigaud

[royalty-nobility]

Louis XV (1710–1774) as a Child

Artist: After Hyacinthe Rigaud (French, 1659–1743)

Date: c. 1716–1724

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The Met Fifth Avenue, New York City, NY, United States

Description

Louis XV succeeded to the throne of France in 1715 upon the death of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV, who had reigned for more than seventy years. The five-year-old boy was the only surviving son of Louis, duc de Bourgogne, and Marie Adélaïde de Savoie, both of whom had died of smallpox in 1712. The canvas is one of many versions of Rigaud’s first official portrait of Louis XV, which was commissioned by the regent, the duc d’Orléans, for the palace of Versailles.

[flordemurta]

Portrait of Louis V of France as a five-year-old King in the French coronation robes, by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743)

[roehenstart]

Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739). Atelier de Hyacinthe Rigaud.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Portrait of Louis XIV in Coronation Clothes (1701) by Jacint Rigau. Louvre Museum, Paris.

This is the most famous painting by the artist Jacint Rigau, though most of the time you'll see the artist credited as Hyacinthe Rigaud... Do you want to know what happened?

Jacint Rigau was born in Perpinyà (Northern Catalonia) in 1659. Perpinyà was a city like any other in Catalonia, where the population spoke the Catalan language. As was normal, he was named in their mother tongue, the Catalan name "Jacint" with his family's surname Rigau.

However, a few months after his birth, the part of Catalonia north of the Pyrenee mountain range was annexed by France. This part of Catalonia became known as "Northern Catalonia", and it's still part of France nowadays.

In April 1700, the king of France Louis XIV (seen in the portrait above) forbid the use of the Catalan language in public, saying that "the Catalan language [...] its use is repugnant and is in some way contrary to Our Authority, to the honor of the French Nation".

Jacint Rigau moved out of Northern Catalonia to go learn painting in Montpellier and later moved to work Paris for the French nobles. He became one of the most important painters of the time in France and so, as we saw at the beginning of the post, he was even commissioned the King's portrait.

Here's a few examples more of his work:

Self-portrait of the artist (1696), private collection.

Portrait of Marie Cadenne (1684), Musée des Beaux-arts de Caen.

Left: Louis of France, the Great Dauphin (1688), Versailles palace. Right: Louis of France, Duke of Bourgogne (1704), Versailles palace.

With the historical context and the discrimination against the Catalan language, it's no surprise that he had to translate his name to French. What might surprise you if you're not familiar with France's history of language discrimination is that, even now (2022), Northern Catalans aren't allowed to name their children in the Catalan language if it uses a graphy that doesn't exist in French. For example, you can't be called popular names like "Martí", "Víctor" or "Lídia" because of the excuse that "í" doesn't exist in French.

The official prohibition of using the Catalan language in public acts is also still active. Only some months ago, the French government sued the city council of the village Elna (Northern Catalonia) for having used Catalan alongside French in the city hall's meetings.

Now you know!

[venustapolis]

Christ Atoning on the Cross (Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1695)

[oldsardens]

Hyacinthe Rigaud (After) - Portrait of Louis XIV (1638-1715)

[dumbbitchhour]

(copy after) Hyacinthe Rigaud, Francisco Luis de Borbón, príncipe de Conti, rey de Polonia, n.d. x

[love-for-carnation]

Marie Madeleine Coskaer de la Vieuville Parabere, 1711 Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra known as Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743, Catalan-French)

Marie Madeleine de La Vieuville, Marquise of Parabère (1693-1755), was a French aristocrat. She was the official mistress of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, during his tenure as regent of France during the minority of the infant King Louis XV of France. In 1711, she married Caesar Alexandre de Baudéan, Marquis of Parabère (d. 1716). The marriage was not happy, but resulted in three children. Her husband had no position at court, but she was able to attend the royal court because of her mother, who was a lady-in-waiting. In 1716, she became the official mistress of the regent, succeeding Madame de Sabran as the regent's main favorite. She presided in his famous private parties and pleasure life. While she was the regent's principal mistress, he had numerous temporary lovers, as did she. She shared her place as his lover with multiple partners, notably Madame de Phalaris, but she was always his main favorite to whom he returned to in the end and reportedly felt love and respect. Among her own additional lovers were Thomas Goyon de Matignon, Jacques-Louis de Beringhen and Armand de Vignerot du Plessis. Many scandalous stories were told about her, as they were about the regent, and she was a central figure in the scandal press of the time. She was described as bold and beautiful, with great will power and a taste for the pleasures of life, and the Regent reportedly loved her because he found her to be an equal partner, which whom he could indulge in pleasure and forget his work. She had no influence in state affairs, simply because she had no interest in them and lacked political ambition. The regent's mother once remarked that her son appreciated her because she distracted him from political affairs and helped him indulge in pleasure instead, something they both preferred to politics. In January 1721 she herself ended the relationship with the regent, after an argument when she discovered him being unfaithful with two girls from the Opera. The regent, who did not wish to loose her, continued to visit her and tried to persuade her to return, and a couple of months later she retired to a convent, claiming that she wished to make amends for past sins. However, she did not become a nun but simply lived in the convent as a guest, which was common in this era.

[history-of-fashion]

1685 Hyacinthe Rigaud - Jules Hardouin Mansart

(Louvre Museum)

[yvenno]

not me (art student and Baroque period lover) finding out that the official portraitist of Louis XIV (who painted the cunty Louis XIV full body portrait) was Hyacinthe Rigaud at the age of 21 when I am literally from Perpignan

[artesplorando]

Hyacinthe Rigaud | ritratto di Luigi XIV

[floral-art-prints]

Study of Flowers by Hyacinthe Francois Rigaud (1720, Öl auf Leinwand)