#Pierre Mignard

[frostedmagnolias]

Portrait of a Lady in allegorical guise, holding a dish of pearls (detail)

Pierre Mignard (French, 1612-1695)

[granstromjulius]

Pierre Mignard I

[roehenstart]

Louis XIV of France. Circle of Pierre Mignard.

[rojosweet]

Cronos corta las alas a cupido:

Este cuadro lo pinto Pierre Mignard en francia

Y esta es la historia espero que te guste tanto como a mi:

A Cronos (El dios griego y padre del tiempo en el Renacimiento) Mignard lo ha pintado musculoso, con barba y el reloj de arena a sus pies. Sostiene con fuerza a Cupido (El amor), cuyas flechas han caído al suelo lo que simboliza que ha sido vencido, y le recorta las alas para que no vuele demasiado alto.

Esta pintura así simboliza que el tiempo vence al amor.

Si analizamos esto detenidamente, nos daremos cuenta de que el tiempo no está venciendo al amor, si nos damos cuenta, Cronos sostiene al amor cómo a un niño malcriado que recibe un correctivo, las flechas no están tiradas o rotas... están guardadas en su carca y recargadas con cuidado.

Cronos le corta las alas a cupido para que ponga los pies en la tierra, que es una metáfora sobre usar la razón, lo que significa que no está venciendo al amor, simplemente lo vuelve un amor realista, un amor que tiene alas pero no pierde el suelo.

A mí parecer aquí lo correcto sería decir el tiempo transforma el amor y lo vuelve más centrado, más maduro.

Lo podemos ver en las parejas que ya después de muchos años juntas descubren lo que está después del estrés positivo y de la idealización del otro, que es la aceptación del otro tal y como es, un amor que no estiliza a la pareja para amarla sino que descubre las partes más oscuras de su pareja y aprende a amarlas también y por tanto ama con-razón (no por nada se llama corazón). 😉

[isabelle-primrose]

Lady in the Park by Pierre Mignard, 17th century

[mercuriicultores]

~1688, Pierre Mignard, San Juan Bautista

[kaitropoli]

"Louise-Marie de Bourbon, dite Mademoiselle de Tours; La fillette aux bulles de savon"

By Pierre Mignard

Oil Painting, 1681.

Château de Versailles.

PORTRAIT SUBJECT

La fillette aux bulles de savon, or the commonly found English title, Girl Blowing Soap Bubbles, is a portrait of innocence during the Franco-Dutch War.

The child shown is Louise-Marie de Bourbon, the daughter of the Sun King, Louis XIV, and his Maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart (Madame de Montespan). I'm sorry, I don't know why they popped off with the names like that when they're planning to reuse Marie and Louis fifty times over ptdr. Louise-Marie, affectionately known as Toutou, was an illegitimate birth (1674), later legitimized by her father when she was around two years old. She held the title of Mademoiselle de Tours from then until her untimely death in 1681.

According to sources, Mignard's painting of the six-year-old girl was finished posthumously. But, her innocence is held delicately, frozen in time on canvas.

THEMES OF CHILDHOOD INNOCENCE (TL;DR: YAPANESE)

Mignard's choice to paint Louise-Marie as an actual child was uncommon for the time (even centuries later, believe it or not; maybe not so good examples, but for argument-sake: Louis XV by Hyacinthe Rigaud, Mariana Victoria of Spain by Nicolas de Largillierre, Phillip II, Duke of Orléans, Reagent of France by Largillierre, and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, "Mademoiselle de Chartres" by Largillierre -- apologies for throwing you strays, man, I'm trying to finish writing this and your children portraits were on the same website next to each other x), as young royalty are painted either as babies (unbreeched/baptize gown) or as tiny adults (fixed in uncomfortable poses and wearing clothes a monarch would), no in between. Here, Louise-Marie is playing with bubbles, her dog jumping towards it, and she looks carefree, still with chubby cheeks of rose. It doesn't help much that children were seen as heirs to the family fortune, especially during a time when parents had multiple kids due to illness (premature death) and bringing in income (need I explain more... *cough cough* coal mines... a bit anachronistic, sorry breaker boys, some other time we'll discuss y'all).

A painting such as this one, showing a realistic human experience from a royal status and that of a child BEING a child, innocence still intact, is quite important, even in today's form. We take childhood for granted, and kids are forced to grow up despite having more rights now than before. It can be a portrait to remind us that innocence is vital (a lack of childhood is detrimental as the experience is needed in order to mature mentally and emotionally when entering the teen and adult stages of life), but also that we as humans weren't so different from back then (sure, you can claim we bathe more than they do despite your husband still not washing his ass, but my heavens, did the thought 'wait, they had bubbles back then' ever occur to you?).

Genuinely, I was going to pull a La Muse Verte (the post where I briefly explained the history of absinthe) and go into the history of bubbles... because you gotta admit, that'd be fun for the both of us. However, delving into the background and theme of this painting became more heartbreaking for me. The bubble idea isn't gone, but it'll be postponed as a full history lesson post (and, yes, Mignard's painting of the immortalized Toutou will be recycled).

FURTHER READING (EXTRA SYMBOLISTIC DETAIL)

Plenty more symbolism is present, but I highly recommend you all check out L'Art en Tête's in-depth article on Mignard's beautiful portrait. I did regurgitate some of the author's points in this because I thought they were brilliant, and you can tell they have an art-history degree, so I'm begging you to go over there for more detail if interested!

[jessdyet]

Pierre Mignard - Time Clipping Cupid's Wings(1694)

[gogmstuff]

More early post-Louis XIV fashion -

ca. 1717 Seated woman holding a fan by Antoine Watteau (Metropolitan Museum of Aty - New York City, New York, USA). From their Web site 2400X3882.

ca. 1718 Dorothy Walpole, Viscountess Townshend by Charles Jervas (Dulwich Picture Gallery - London, UK). From the-athenaeum.org; enlarged by half 1161X1416.

Probably Dorothy, Viscountess Townshend, by Charles Jervas (National Portrait Gallery - London, UK). From Wikimedia 2400X3161.

ca. 1719 Maria Clementina Sobieska by ? (National Portrait Gallery - London, UK). From Wikimedia; fixed spots & some cracks w Pshop 2076X2623.

1719 Anna Catharina Herport by Johann Rudolf Huber (private collection). From Wikimedia; fixed spots w Pshop 1693X2067.

[portraituresque]

Self Portrait 

Pierre Mignard

[granstromjulius]

Pierre Mignard I

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Pierre Mignard (French, 1612-1695) Le Délivrance d'Andromède, 1679 Musée du Louvre, Paris

[roehenstart]

Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Duchess of Orléans (1652-1722). By Pierre Mignard.

[kalahs-beautiful-realm]

Art by, Pierre Mignard, [1610-1695]

(Time Clipping Cupid's Wings. 1695.

[isabelle-primrose]

The Children of the Duc de Bouillon by Pierre Mignard, 1647

[dancingwithhope]