Portrait of the Poet Charles-Pierre Colardeau

portrait

The French poet Charles-Pierre Colardeau (1732-1776), whose early death cut short a promising career, is portrayed half-length in the foreground of this composition, seated in an armchair. The poet is dressed in a red smock and wears a short powdered wig gathered by a grey ribbon, in the style of the day. The figure spontaneously turns his head, holding in his left hand some sheets of paper from the manuscript Lettre d'Héloise Abélard (Letter from Heloise to Abelard), his best and most well known poem written in 1758, an imitation in verse of the famous work of the same name written in 1716 by Alexander Pope that prefigures 18th-century pre-Romantic sensitivity.

Loading map…

Portrait of the Poet Charles-Pierre Colardeau

About the Artist

Guillaume Voiriot

1713 – 1799

French portrait painter. In 1746-1749 he traveled, at its own expense, in Italy. After his return to Paris he became a member of the painters and sculptors guild at Académie de Saint-Luc. Between 1759 and 1771 he regularly exhibited portraits of his contemporaries in the Paris Salon. He portrayed family members, scientists, writers, actors and musicians.

View all works →