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Matthew Prior

1713–14
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Matthew Prior
  • Artist: Alexis-Simon Belle
  • Date: 1713–14
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Without frame, estimated: 59 × 44 in. (149.9 × 111.8 cm)
    With frame, estimated: 69 × 54 in. (175.3 × 137.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: By permission of the Master and Fellows of St John’s College, Cambridge (10)
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts