Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), Portrait of Henri de Lorraine, Duke of Mouy, 1651. Engraving on paper. Plate 34.2 × 26.3 cm; Sheet 36.9 × 27 cm. Gift of Mrs. Morris Woolf, 1941.455 © Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), Portrait of Edouard Molé, 1653. Engraving on paper. Plate trimmed: 29.1 × 20.1 cm. Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection, 1887.265 © Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), after Pierre Mignard I (French, 1612-1695), Anne of Austria, Queen of France,  1660. Engraving on paper. Plate 32.7 × 25 cm: Sheet: 38.2 × 30.2 cm. Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection, 1887.393 © Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), Louis Phélypeaux de la Vrillière, 1662. Engraving in black on paper. Image 32.6 × 25.9 cm; Plate 32.9 × 26.2 cm; Sheet 33.2 × 26.4 cm. Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection, 1888.188 © Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), Louis XIV, 1663. Engraving on paper. Plate: 40.5 × 33.4 cm; Sheet 51.5 × 40.1 cm. Gift of Mr. J. J. Glessner and the Avery Fund, 1888.1881923.1655 © Art Institute of Chicago

This portrait was one of several prints of Louis XIV that Nanteuil engraved based on a pastel that he composed from life. Nanteuil frequently brought friends to entertain his models as they sat, giving his portraits a relaxed, natural look, but Louis XIV was a reputedly difficult subject who detested sitting for extended periods. Nonetheless, Nanteuil would engrave 12 portraits of the king, and draw him in person on more than one occasion. As his career progressed, Nanteuil’s prints grew more painterly in quality, with subtler chiaroscuro effects, evident here in the carefully hatched shadows behind Louis XIV.

Robert Nanteuil (French, 1623-1678), Nicolas Potier de Novion, 1664. Engraving on paper. Plate 36.2 × 28 cm; Sheet 38.7 × 30.8 cm. Bequest of Mary Morley Sellers, 1940.1343 © Art Institute of Chicago

To be continued...