Philippe de Champaigne | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait,Museum of Grenoble | |
| Born | Philippe de Champaigne (1602-05-26)26 May 1602 |
| Died | 12 August 1674(1674-08-12) (aged 72) |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Baroque |
Philippe de Champaigne (French pronunciation:[filipdəʃɑ̃paɲ]; 26 May 1602 – 12 August 1674) was aBrabant-bornFrench[1]Baroque era painter, a major exponent of theFrench school. He was a founding member of theAcadémie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris, the premier art institution in theKingdom of France in the eighteenth century.
Born of a poor family inBrussels (Duchy of Brabant,Southern Netherlands), during the reign of the ArchdukeAlbert andIsabella, Champaigne was a pupil of the landscape painterJacques Fouquier. In 1621 he moved toParis, where he worked withNicolas Poussin on the decoration of thePalais du Luxembourg under the direction of Nicolas Duchesne, whose daughter he would eventually marry. According to Houbraken, Duchesne was angry at Champaigne for becoming more popular than he was at court, and so Champaigne returned to Brussels to live with his brother. It was only after he received news of Duchesne's death that he returned to marry his daughter.[2]
After the death of Duchesne, Champaigne worked for the Queen Mother,Marie de Medicis, for whom he participated in the decoration of theLuxembourg Palace. He made several paintings for the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, dating from 1638. He also drew several cartoons for tapestries. He was made first painter of the Queen with a pension of 1200livres. He also decorated the Carmelite Church of Faubourg Saint-Jacques, one of the favorite churches of the Queen Mother. This site was destroyed during theFrench Revolution, but there are several paintings now preserved in museums, that were part of the original design, such asThe Presentation in the Temple in Dijon, theResurrection of Lazarus in Grenoble, and theAssumption of the Virgin in the Louvre.
He also worked forCardinal Richelieu, for whom he decorated thePalais Cardinal, the dome of theSorbonne and other buildings. Champaigne was the only artist who was allowed to paint Richelieu enrobed as a cardinal, which he did eleven times. He was a founding member of theAcadémie de peinture et de sculpture in 1648.Later in his life (from 1640 onwards), he came under the influence ofJansenism. After his paralysed daughter was allegedly miraculously cured at the nunnery ofPort-Royal, he painted the celebrated but atypical pictureEx-Voto de 1662, now in theLouvre, which represents the artist's daughter with Mother-SuperiorAgnès Arnauld.
Champaigne produced a large number of paintings, mainly religious works and portraits. Influenced byRubens at the beginning of his career, his style later became more austere. Philippe de Champaigne remains an exceptional painter thanks to the brilliance of the colors in his paintings and the stern strength of his compositions.[3]
He portrayed the entire French court, the French high nobility, royalty, high members of the church and the state, parliamentarians and architects, and other notable people. His portrait of the poet Vincent Voiture was created around 1649 as the frontispiece for Voiture's publishedWorks (published posthumously in 1650). The portrait is highly unusual in that Champaigne later reworked it as a portrait of a religious figure,Saint Louis (King Louis IX), to enable Voiture's daughter to keep it with her when she entered a convent.[4]
In depicting their faces, he refused to show a transitory expression, instead capturing the psychological essence of the person.[5][6]
His works can be seen in public buildings, private collections, churches such asVal-de-Grâce,Sorbonne,Saint Severin,Saint-Merri,Saint-Médard and in theBasilica of Notre-Dame du Port inClermont-Ferrand.
Champaigne was prominent enough in his time as to be mentioned inCyrano de Bergerac in a line by Ragueneau referencing Cyrano: "Truly, I should not look to find his portrait / By the grave hand of Philippe de Champaigne."
His pupils were his nephewJean Baptiste de Champaigne,William Faithorne,Jean Morin, andNicolas de Plattemontagne.[7] During his last period Champaigne painted mainly religious subjects and family members.[8] He died in Paris in 1674.
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Media related toPhilippe de Champaigne at Wikimedia Commons
