Hyacinthe RIGAUD (1659-1743) AND WORKSHOP - Lot 41

Hyacinthe RIGAUD (1659-1743) AND WORKSHOP Portrait of André Hercule de Fleury (1653 - 1743) Original oval canvas and original stretcher (reduced). 72.5 x 58.5 cm. (Old restorations). Provenance : Probably listed in the 1706 account books (for 150 livres); Anonymous sale, Bordeaux (Mes Blanchy et Lacombe), March 30, 2016, no. 401 (Follower of Rigaud, Portrait présumé d'André Hercule de Fleury). Bibliography: - J. Roman, Le Livre de raison du peintre Hyacinthe Rigaud, Paris, 1919, pp. 121, 127; Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot, December 2, 1994, p. 156 ; - A. de Maurepas, A. Boulant, Les Ministres et les ministères du siècle des Lumières (1715-1789), études et dictionnaire, Paris, 1996, p. 73-78 ; - A. James-Sarazin, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), thèse de doctorat sous la dir. de B. Jestaz, Paris, Ecole pratique des hautes études, 2003/4, cat.I, n° 783 (reprise de la proposition de Roman) ; - J. Bergin, Crown, Church and Episcopate under Louis XIV, New Haven, London, 2004, p. 413 ; - S. Perreau, Hyacinthe Rigaud. Catalog concis de l'oeuvre, Sète, 2013, no. PC915 (painting not located); - A. James-Sarazin, Hyacinthe Rigaud. Catalog raisonné, Dijon, 2016, no. P. 953. Painting reproduced on Stéphan Perreau's website, consulted in February 2025: https://www.hyacinthe-rigaud.com/catalogue-raisonne-hyacinthe-rigaud/portraits/832-fleury-andre-hercule-de-2 In a 2016 press release, Ariane James-Sarazin confirms the workshop's involvement and dates our painting to 1706 (recorded in the account books). André Hercule de Fleury was the son of a tax collector. He was canon of Montpellier in 1668, then chaplain to Queen Marie-Thérèse and Louis XIV. From 1698 to 1715, he was bishop of Frejus. He was close to the young Louis XV and soon became his first minister (1726). Rigaud, who benefited from his protection, produced a second Portrait of the Cardinal Minister in 1728. The latter had reached the height of his power.