Allegory of Geometry

1649 · Private collection

mythological

The Allegory of Geometry is from a series of paintings of the Seven Liberal Arts, which was one of La Hyre's most important commissions and a paradigm of classical subject matter and refinement. He painted the group between 1649 and 1650 to decorate the Paris residence of Gédéon Tallemant, a member of the Council of State under Louis XIV. La Hyre also painted at least one other series of the Liberal Arts.

About the Artist

Laurent de La Hyre

1606 – 1656

La Hyre (also spelled La Hire) was a French Baroque classical painter whose best work is marked by gravity, simplicity, and dignity. He was the son of the painter Étienne de La Hyre (c. 1583-1643) but was most influenced by the work of Georges Lallemant and Orazio Gentileschi. His picture of Pope Nicolas V at the Tomb of Saint Francis was done in 1630 for the Capuchins, for whom he executed several other works. For the goldsmiths' company he produced in 1635 St Peter Healing the Sick and the Conversion of St Paul in 1637. In 1648, with 11 other artists, he helped found the French Royal Academy. Cardinal Richelieu called him to the Palais-Royal about 1640 to paint decorative mythological scenes, and he later designed a series of tapestries for the Gobelins.

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