The Comte and Chevalier de Choiseul as Savoyards

The Comte and Chevalier de Choiseul as Savoyards
ArtistFrançois-Hubert Drouais
Year1758
TypeOil on canvas, portrait painting
Dimensions139.4 cm × 107.6 cm (54.9 in × 42.4 in)
LocationFrick Collection, New York City

The Comte and Chevalier de Choiseul as Savoyards is a 1758 portrait painting by the French artist François-Hubert Drouais.[1] It depicts two young members of the French Aristocracy, dressed in the costume of Savoyard itinerate entertainers who toured France in the era. The elder of the two, shown standing with a hurdy-gurdy on his back is the six-year old Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier. His younger brother Michel-Félix-Victor, Chevalier de Choiseul-Daillecourt is shown pointing at a peep show.[2] A docile setter is shown at their feet.[3]

They were cousins of the French statesman the Duke of Choiseul, best known for leading France during the Seven Years' War. Drouais was a celebrated portraitist of the Ancien régime who flourished during the reign of Louis XV. The painting was displayed at the Salon of 1759 at the Louvre in Paris. Today it is in the Frick Collection in New York, which acquired it in 1966.[4]

References

Bibliography

  • Tadie, Alexis & O'Quinn, Daniel. Sporting Cultures, 1650–1850. University of Toronto Press, 2018.
  • Wintermute, Alan & Garstang, Donald . The French portrait, 1550-1850. University of Washington Press, 2009.