1780 Antique Framed Wall Art Pierre Duflos Michel De l'Hopital Copper Engraving Original French Costume Print Gold Gilt Chancellor Portrait

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This original 1780 hand-colored copper plate engraving depicts Michel de L'Hôpital, Chancellor of France, standing in his formal sixteenth-century ceremonial … Read more This original 1780 hand-colored copper plate engraving depicts Michel de L'Hôpital, Chancellor of France, standing in his formal sixteenth-century ceremonial vestments. Rendered by the celebrated French printmaker Pierre Duflos le Jeune and hand-engraved by Jeanne Duflos, this antiquarian portrait features a detailed full-length figure dressed in a flowing, patterned blue robe under a heavy brown overcoat with a vibrant pink structural sash belt. The artwork is framed by an original, hand-applied gold wash border painted directly onto the antique handmade laid paper sheet itself. Housed in an elegant vintage wood frame, this piece delivers a wonderful sense of historical weight and luminous old-world character to a traditional library workspace, a dark academia study wall arrangement, or a sophisticated grandmillennial dining room accent grouping.

The Craftsmanship & Eighteenth-Century French Print Pedigree:
This historical artifact represents the fine intaglio copper plate engraving on laid paper and watercolor washing techniques that flourished in Paris during the late King Louis XVI period. Examined under a lens, the print shows the solid, continuous ink ribbons of a genuine hand-pulled impression, completely free of any modern photo-mechanical reproduction dots. The lower margins preserve the original incised publication credits, reading "Gravé par P. Duflos" on the left, "Je. Duflos sc." on the right, and identifying the artist's studio address near the Rue Saint-Jacques. Crucially, the lower right margin features the stamped lettering "A.P.D.R." (Avec Privilège du Roi), an important legal marker proving this print was published prior to the French Revolution with official royal permission from the King. Printed on heavy, handmade laid rag paper of the period, the print stands as a lovely example of classical French graphic art for collectors of authentic late-eighteenth-century ephemera. See less