Jean Ranc, Portrait of Noble Lady, 1600s, Oil on Canvas, Framed

Details

Description

Portrait of a noblewoman in ceremonial dress with chantilly lace mantilla

Attributed to Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 – 1735 Madrid)

… Read more Portrait of a noblewoman in ceremonial dress with chantilly lace mantilla

Attributed to Jean Ranc (Montpellier 1674 – 1735 Madrid)

oil on oval canvas, cm.72 x 59

with frame 96 x 84

Provenance: Collection of the Bourbon Castle, France (Saint-Laurent-d'Agny)

This portrait of a noblewoman is in our opinion to be placed in the production of the workshop of the French painter Jean Ranc, one of the most significant portraitists of his time and a great interpreter of the French school between the 17th and 18th centuries. After an apprenticeship in Montpellier in his father Antoine's workshop, in 1696 Ranc moved to Paris to join the workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud, remaining there later as a collaborator.

It portrays a woman of high social extraction, dressed in a brocade ceremonial dress adorned with a rich white Chantilly lace mantilla, and immortalized in three-quarters, with her gaze directed at the viewer. Note the careful rendering of the facial features, the attention to the nuances of the complexion, the sharpness of the contours highlighted by the light.

We can, for comparison, mention the painting 'Portrait d'une grande dame', made by Jean Ranc, and now at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Narbonne, in which we can find the same clothing (see the museum link: https://webmuseo.com/ws/musees-narbonne/app/collection/record/398), made between 1700 and 1734, a time interval within which we can also easily place our canvas.

Thanks to his closeness to the great painter Rigaud, already well-known in the field of French portraiture, Ranc began his personal rise in Parisian high society around 1700, and made a great contribution to the emergence of the ceremonial portrait, combining the careful representation of the physiognomy and the charm of color, the psychology of the model and his social status, the splendor of attributes and relaxation of the pose.

The work is presented in a very good state of conservation.

Completed with a magnificent carved and gilded wooden frame of the time.

Accompanied by an expertise of authenticity (FIMA ITALIA). This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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