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Portrait of Charlotte Duchesne

ca. 1628
Not on view
Although the inscription likely postdates the artist's lifetime, there is no reason to doubt that this sheet is a portrait drawn from life of Philippe de Champaigne's wife, Charlotte Duchesne, daughter of the painter Nicolas Duchesne, who had hired the young Flemish-born artist to assist in the decoration of the Luxembourg Palace for Marie de' Medici shortly after his arrival in Paris. It is a study for a bust-length oil painting in the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, which, before the Metropolitan's drawing came to light in 1992, had been thought to represent Henriette of France, wife of Charles I of England.
With a disarming directness, the artist focused on transcribing his young wife's features and expression, with only the most minimal and schematic indications of costume and jewelry. To create this effect of naturalism, the face was subtly modeled in black chalk with touches of white and red. The delicate handling calls attention to the slight knitting of the sitter's brow and the rounded cheek revealing just the faintest hint of a smile.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of Charlotte Duchesne
  • Artist: Philippe de Champaigne (French, Brussels 1602–1674 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1628
  • Medium: Black chalk, heightened with white, with touches of red chalk
  • Dimensions: 8 11/16 x 7 11/16 in. (22 x 19.6 cm.)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift; Gifts in memory of Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turcic, and Howard J. Barnet; and The Schiff Foundation, David L. Klein Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc. and Harry Liebovitz Gifts, 1994
  • Object Number: 1994.7
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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An Album With Portraits of Women
Philippe de Champaigne
17th century
The Presentation of the Virgin, Philippe de Champaigne French, Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash
The Presentation of the Virgin
Philippe de Champaigne
17th century
View of Jerusalem with the Temple of Solomon, Philippe de Champaigne French, Red chalk on two attached sheets of off-white laid paper
View of Jerusalem with the Temple of Solomon
Philippe de Champaigne
17th century
The Annunciation, Philippe de Champaigne French, Oil on oak
The Annunciation
Philippe de Champaigne
ca. 1644
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), Philippe de Champaigne French, Oil on canvas
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683)
Philippe de Champaigne
1655

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