Portrait of a Man

Hyacinthe Rigaud

1693 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

This portrait comes from the last years that Rigaud accepted commissions from sitters of relatively modest social standing. He would soon paint almost exclusively for the court, including two of the most iconic portraits depicting Louis XIV. This distinguished man’s identity remains unknown, but the size and format were a way to purchase a work that included the features for which Rigaud was celebrated—the soft lighting, undulating curls, and shifting surface of shot silk—at a lesser cost.

Artist

Hyacinthe Rigaud

Date

1693

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948