Robert Nanteuil
Born Reims, 1623; Died Paris, 9 Dec 1678.
French engraver, draughtsman and pastellist. He was the son of Lancelot Nanteuil, a wool merchant, and submitted his thesis in philosophy, for which he engraved the headpiece, at the Jesuit College of Reims, in 1645. He went on to work in the studio of Nicolas Regnesson, whose sister he married in 1646, before moving to Paris in 1647. His early work mainly consisted of portrait drawings in black lead on parchment (e.g. Paris, Louvre), and he continued to draw throughout his career. He took 155 of his 221 portraits directly from life. His drawing style was influenced by Philippe de Champaigne, and he based his engraving technique on the work of Claude Mellan and Jean Morin. By 1652 he had developed his own technique (see Engraving, §II, 4), and his engraving of Cardinal Mazarin of that year gained him official recognition (for illustration see Mazarin, (1)). The size of his engravings increased, and after 1664 he produced mainly life-size heads. In 1658 he was appointed Dessinateur et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi.
Nanteuil’s best work dates from the years immediately after 1657, when his subjects included royalty as well as high-ranking members of society. He engraved 11 portraits of Louis XIV and many plates of Mazarin, Michel le Tellier and Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Through his campaigning engravers received in 1660 the Edict of St Jean-de-Luz, which raised engraving to the status of a liberal art in France. His philosophical education is apparent in the Maximes et réflexions preserved by his only pupil Domenico Tempesti: ‘time and trouble do not make fine works of art so much as a good disposition and intelligence’ is typical. It was always his aim to capture the character of his subject; one of his most searching engraved portraits is of Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne . Nanteuil’s style dominated French portrait engraving until the end of the 18th century. Most of his portraits are set in a simple oval resting on an architectural plinth. Accessories are almost eliminated and costume invariably simple, so that nothing can distract from the facial character. Nanteuil’s complete mastery of the burin led him away from extravagant effects, and he tried to make his subjects appear tranquil and highminded; he liked to talk to them amusingly in his studio. His finest works include his portraits of François Lotin, Seigneur de Charny (1657; after Florent Le Comte), Jean Loret and Claude Regnauldin, Seigneur de Béru (both 1658) and François de la Mothe le Vayer (1661). In addition to his skills as a portrait engraver, he was the most accomplished pastellist of the 18th century in France, bringing the art to a high degree of refinement in such portraits as those of Jean Dorieu (1660) and Dominique de Ligny (both Paris, Louvre).
J. M. Pinkerton. "Nanteuil, Robert." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T060889 (accessed March 7, 2012).
