The Échevins of the City of Paris before St Geneviève

historical

By the end of the 1680s Largillière received regular orders from the richer bourgeois of Paris. In 1689 he received a new type of commission, for one of the portrait-groups which the City of Paris caused to be executed to commemorate certain solemn occasions. In this case the theme was the banquet given by the Échevins to the King when he made his first formal visit to the Hôtel de Ville, as a gesture of forgiveness to the city for their part in the Fronde.

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The Échevins of the City of Paris before St Geneviève

About the Artist

Nicolas de Largillière

1656 – 1746

Nicolas de Largillière (Largillierre) was born in Paris but passed his youth in Antwerp and, from c. 1674, spent some years in England as Lely 's assistant. He was thus almost a Flemish painter when he returned to Paris in 1682. He became a member of the Academy in 1686 and ultimately its Director. His principal rival was Rigaud, but Largillière specialized in portraits of the wealthy middle classes, leaving the aristocrats to Rigaud. There are typical examples in London (National Gallery and Wallace Collection), New York (Metropolitan Museum), and Paris (Louvre). The S. Geneviève (Paris, S. Étienne) is the only survivor of the large ex-voto type of picture that he painted for the Corporations. He also painted a few pictures of still-life.

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