François de Troy

Infobox Artist
name = François de Troy


imagesize =
caption = François de Troy by his student Alexis Simon Belle
birthname = François de Troy
birthdate = 1645
location = Toulouse, France
deathdate = 21 November 1730
deathplace = Paris
nationality = French
field = Painter
training =
movement =
works =
patrons = Courts of James II of England and James Francis Edward Stuart in exile, French court
awards =

François de Troy (1645 – 21 November 1730), was a French painter and engraver who became principal painter to King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Director of the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture.

Early life

One of a family of artists, Troy was born in Toulouse, the son of Nicolas de Troy (1608 - 15 September 1684), a painter in that city,Robert-Dumesnil, Alexandre Pierre F., "Le peintre-graveur français, ou Catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'ecole française", vol. 7 (1844) [http://books.google.com/books?id=-C8DAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337 p. 337] online at books.google.com (accessed 15 February 2008)] and was the brother of Jean de Troy (4 April 1638 - 25 June 1691). [http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/art/art4may/art0501.html#troy François de Troy] at safran-arts.com (accessed 15 February 2008)] Troy was taught the basic skills of painting by his father, and perhaps also by the more worldly Antoine Durand.

François de Troy is not to be confused with his son, the portrait painter Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752), who studied under him. [ [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/troy_francois_de.html François de Troy, French Baroque Era Painter, 1645-1730] at artcyclopedia.com (accessed 15 February 2008)]

Career

At some time after 1662, Troy went to Paris to study portrait painting under Claude Lefebvre (1633-1675) and Nicolas-Pierre Loir (1624–1679] . A. P. F. Robert-Dumesnil states that this occurred when Troy was aged twenty-four.

In 1669, Troy married his master Nicolas-Pierre Loir's sister-in-law, Jeanne Cotelle.

In 1671, he was approved ("agréé") by the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture. In 1674, he was received into the Academy as a history painter, with a reception piece ("morceau de réception") entitled "Mercure coupant la tête d'Argus" ('Mercury cutting off the head of Argus').

Troy's early known works include tapestry designs for Madame de Montespan, one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV of France, and paintings with religious and mythological subjects.

In the 1670s, he became friendly with Roger de Piles, who introduced him to Dutch and Flemish painting, and after the death of Claude Lefebvre in 1675, Troy changed his direction to become a portrait artist, aiming at commissions from Lefebvre's former clients. In 1679 he was commissioned to paint a portrait of the Swedish ambassador Nils Bielke, and in 1680 that of Maria Anna of Bavaria (1660-1690), shortly after her marriage to Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711), the heir to the French throne, on 7 March 1680. Troy became a successful painter of fashionable single and group portraits. [Bordeaux, Jean-Luc, "Jean-Francois de Troy, Still an Artistic Enigma: Some Observations on His Early Works" in "Artibus et Historiae", vol. 10, no. 20 (1989), pp. 143-169] His clients included Madame de Montespan, her son by the king, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine, and his wife Anne-Louise-Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé.

As a result of such commissions, Troy was able to work continuously in court circles for almost fifty years. He was admired for his ability to capture the upper classes and their preoccupation with manners and fashion. Perhaps more importantly, he was said to have the ability to make any woman look beautiful, which made him sought after by all women. [Robert-Dumesnil, "op. cit.": "Possédant l'art de rendre toutes les femmes belles, son pinceau flatteur le fit rechercher de toutes les dames et lui procura une grande vague à la cour."]

In the 1690s, Troy became the principal painter to the court of King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where he was the master of Alexis Simon Belle.Corp, Edward, "Belle, Alexis-Simon (1674–1734)" in "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" (Oxford University Press, September 2004]

By the years 1698 to 1701, a period of peace between France and Great Britain, Jacobites could cross the English Channel carrying portraits of James Francis Edward Stuart and his sister Princess Louisa Maria. Troy was then James II's only court painter and needed the help of Belle, his best student, to produce the many portraits commissioned from him.

In 1698, he was appointed a Professor of the Académie Royale, and in 1708 became its Director. [Bryan, Michael, "Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. Volume 5. S-Z" (Adamant Media Corporation, ISBN 0543931579), [http://books.google.com/books?id=wyHzsSLLd9oC&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=%22fran%C3%A7ois+de+troy%22+1645+1730&source=web&ots=reCH3_RBNk&sig=1IIBdV5YlaWPi_In8cE2PP1H6_0 page 208] online at books.google.com (accessed 16 February 2008)]

Troy was an engraver as well as a painter. Among his engravings is one of the funeral in 1683 of Maria Theresa of Spain, the wife of King Louis XIV.

Apart from his son, Jean-François, Troy's other students included André Bouys and John Closterman.

He died in Paris at the age of eighty-five.

Work

The portraits painted by Troy include (see image gallery) -
*Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, 1690 [ [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp08154&rNo=0&role=art Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell] portrait at npg.org.uk (accessed 15 February 2008)]
*Lady Mary Herbert, Viscountess Montagu, as Diana, c. 1692 [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_513_160/ai_n9480394/pg_2 National Trust acquisitions 2003-2004] at findarticles.com (accessed 15 February 2008)]
*Jean de la Fontaine [ [http://www.lafontaine.net/lafontaine/lafontaine.php?id=43 Portraits of Jean de la Fontaine] at lafontaine.net (accessed 15 February 2008)]
*Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646–1708)
*Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729) [ [http://www.earlywomenmasters.net/midi/guerreport.html Notes on the Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre Portrait] at earlywomenmasters.net (accessed 15 February 2008)]
*Princess Louisa Maria Stuart (1692-1712), about 1705
*"Portrait d'un couple en Vénus et Pâris", 1691, 150 cm by 120 cm, now in the Louvre [http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=29007 Portrait d'un couple en Vénus et Pâris] at the web site of the Louvre (accessed 15 February 2008)]

References

*Cailleux, Jean, "Some Family and Group Portraits by Francois de Troy (1645-1730)" in "The Burlington Magazine", vol. 113, no. 817 (April 1971), pp. i-xviii
*Brême, Dominique, "François de Troy 1645-1730" (Paris, ed. Somogy, Editions d'art, 1997, 199 pages, ISBN 978-2850562785)

Notes

Gallery

Jules Hardouin Mansart


Princess Louisa Maria Stuart, about 1705


Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre


Jean de la Fontaine


Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell


The Feast of Dido and Aeneas, 1704


Charles Mouton, 1690

External links

* [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/joconde_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_1=AUTR&VALUE_1=TROY%20François%20de&DOM=All&REL_SPECIFIC=1&IMAGE_ONLY=CHECKED François de Troy] at culture.gouv.fr
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp08154&role=art François de Troy] at the web site of the National Portrait Gallery, London
* [http://www.artnet.com/artist/559185/francois-de-troy.html François de Troy] at artnet.com
* [http://www.reproarte.com/painter/1289_Fran%C3%A7ois+de+Troy/index.html François de Troy] at reproarte.com