Hyacinthe Rigaud

Hyacinthe Rigaud (actually Hyacinthe -François- Honoré -Mathias -Pierre Martyr -André Jean Rigau y Ros ) (* July 18, 1659 in Perpignan, France, † December 29, 1743 in Paris) was the most important portrait painters of the French Ancien Régime.

Rigaud, who was his father's side early for half-orphans, came from a family of painters and was therefore sent at the age of 14 years to Montpellier for painter training as little important painter Paul Pezet. Later he became a student of Henri Verdier and Antoine Ranc, the young Rigaud especially the painting Van Dyck brought near. Early on, shows the porträtistische talent Rigaud.

In 1681 Rigaud moved to Paris, where he was at the Académie royale initially active in the history subject. With a history painting in 1682 he won second prize in the Prix de Rome of the Academy, which was connected to a scholarship at the branch of the Academy in Rome. His teacher Charles Lebrun, court painter to the king, Rigaud convinced, however, history painting, and thus to give up her acting Romstipendium above all, and to devote himself to portraiture. His first orders received Rigaud from the financial bourgeoisie and the nobility of office. The portraits created thereby procured Rigaud considerable reputation, so he was commissioned in 1688 with a portrait of the brother of King Philip I of Orléans, whose weft rousing success now opened him the doors to the high nobility, the higher clergy and the crown. In 1689, he portrayed the son of Philip I, the. , After the death of King Louis XIV as Duke of Orléans Regent for the future Louis XV been. His most famous work is the big parade portrait of Louis XIV in the year 1701 ( see figure); it was like most Staatsbildnisse copied multiple times. Rigaud maintained an extensive studio, with specialists for certain parts of the image such as backgrounds, draperies or open flowers, the images produced in almost industrial style, which often have only a few strokes of the hand Rigaud.

He was in 1707 elected a member of the Academy, where he taught from 1710 painting and was rector from 1733. With the rise Nattier, however, its importance declined and he produced noticeably less. Among his students was Jean Ranc, who later worked as a Spanish court painter.

Oeuvre and meaning

At the time, Rigaud was the undisputed star of portraiture. Numerous portraits that he recognized not only the physiognomy, but also the character of the persons represented with unique precision. His works, which met the then- outstanding need for representation, give us today detailed information about clothing and hairstyles of the time, in addition, they illustrate the who is who of the era: In addition to portraits of the kings Louis XIV and Louis XV. He also portrayed the King Augustus II of Poland, Elector August the same ( strong) of Saxony and King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway, Liselotte of the Palatinate ( wife of Philip I, Duke of Orléans ). In addition to the above, he also produced portraits of other kings of Europe, as well as other members of the French and non-French state-supporting stands. But also and especially his bourgeois portraits show the genius of his character representation. Most of his later works are "only" from his studio, so that an exact assignment to "his" hand is often difficult, especially since there were many copies of studio portraits. Rigaud himself authored a catalog of works.

Many portrait painters based on the works of Hyacinthe Rigaud. So Anton Graff, who during his time in Ansbach whose portraits kennenlehrnte. The exemplary playback of matter, of the velvet and the silk of the French court painter, he was a role model.