On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Matthew Prior
Belle depicted Prior, who served as a British minister to France, wearing a long, powdered wig and formal French dress. The sealed letter in the sitter’s right hand is addressed "Au Roi très Chrétien" (To His Most Christian King), a reference to the diplomatic credentials he presented to Louis XIV. Prior was charged with improving relations between the two countries, which had fought on opposite sides during the War of the Spanish Succession.
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