A Late 18thC French School Oil on Canvas Portrait of a Priest Dated to 1793

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A Late 18thC French School Oil on Canvas Portrait of a Priest Dated to 1793Origin: French Period: Louis XVI Provenance: Unknown Date: c. 1793 Height: 30 Width: 24 Depth: 1 The beautifully worn half length portrait in rectangular form of a Normandy priest, painted in oils on canvas and in its original beaded gesso frame, the sitter wearing a priests cassock and holding a book of prayer looking out amicably to the viewer, on a dark ground, and surviving from the Reign of Terror of the French revolution of 1793. The portrait

much of the original iron strap work remains

the art of trompe l'oeil flourished from the Renaissance period with the discovery of perspective in fifteenth-century Italy and advancements in the science of optics in the seventeenth-century Netherlands enabled artists to render objects and spaces with eye-fooling exactitude

and indeed this prop

Inside the basket are small fruit and leaves

The half-length portrait of a discerning middle-aged French gentleman having a goatee beard and moustache

is also known as one of the "three friends of winter"

It’s also feasible they are shop counter drawers as part of an apothecary for example and in this instance it may have been part of a larger composition though it is certainly a standalone piece in its own right

with a hanging hook added for wall mounting

and the play of light around the face all combine to create a wonderful expression

the company found itself in difficulties

An appealing rug to gaze at

it can be transported easily and was of course used as teaching aids in European medical universities

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