Daniel Dumonstier

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Daniel Dumonstier

1574-1646

Portrait of a Gentleman of the French Court

1628

Black chalk with smudging, red, yellow, and white chalks on laid paper.

19 1/4 x 14 7/8 inches (488 x 378 mm)

Purchased as the gift of John M. Crawford, Jr.

1956.9

Notes:

Watermark: none.
Dumonstier carefully annotated this portrait of a gentleman at court with the exact date, 31 August 1628, but he did not identify the sitter. A possibly contemporary inscription suggests that it depicts a M. de Porchères, but there were at least two poets active at the court with that surname. Dumonstier's facility for combining colored chalks to achieve a meticulous, lifelike effect in such large-scale sheets sets him apart as a portraitist. -- Exhibition Label, From "Poussin, Claude, and French Drawing in the Classical Age"

Inscription:

Dated by the artist at upper right, in red chalk, "ce 31 Aust 1628"; inscribed on back of old mount, in pen and brown ink, in a contemporary hand, "M. de Porchere".

Provenance:

Sale, London, Christie's, 28 July 1955, lot 14 (said to be a portrait of Constable Montmorency); P. & D. Colnaghi and Co, London.

Associated names:

Crawford, John M., Jr., donor.

Bibliography:

Adams, Frederick B., Jr. Seventh Annual Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1957, p. 68.
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 7.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 10, repr.

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