Investing with Insignia

1737 · Private collection

historical

The picture depicts the scene of the Duke of Saint Aignan investing Girolamo Vaini, Prince of Cantalupe and Duke of Selci, with the Insignia of a Knight of the Holy Spirit. Subleyras had made the acquaintance of the Duke of Saint Aignan soon after the latter's appointment as Ambassador to the Pope in 1731. The Duke commissioned him to paint the present scene, which required the skills of a portraitist who was also thoroughly familiar with the conventions of historical subject painting.

About the Artist

Pierre Subleyras

1699 – 1749

French painter who settled permanently in Rome after winning the Prix du Rome in 1727. He painted a variety of subjects, including portraits and still-lifes, but he is most highly regarded for his religious paintings, which are much more serious in spirit than most French work in the Rococo period. His most famous work is the Mass of St Basil, painted for the St Peter's, but now in the Santa Maria degli Angeli. This huge picture was highly acclaimed when it was unveiled in 1748, but Subleyras died before he could follow up his success. He has subsequently been something of an underrated figure, but a major exhibition of his work in Paris and Rome in 1987 did much to establish his reputation as one of the outstanding French painters of his period.

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